


Akira's Secrets

by PersonaShipper123



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Akira has a Twin, Alternate Universe - Kurusu Akira Has A Palace, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Bisexual Kurusu Akira, Blood and Injury, Boys In Love, Dark Kurusu Akira, Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Love Confessions, M/M, Major Character Injury, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-23
Updated: 2018-12-21
Packaged: 2019-02-18 22:39:11
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 13
Words: 22,797
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13109964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PersonaShipper123/pseuds/PersonaShipper123
Summary: Secrets.That's all Akira has.Secret crush, secret past, secret memories, and almost everything else is a secret...





	1. The Secret Side of Joker

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is my first Shukita fanfic so I hope you all enjoy!

The Phantom Thieves were riding through Mementos looking for the target Mishima gave them. 

The Thieves won the battle against the target and were riding back towards the exit of Mementos, when they encountered a Shadow.

Joker hesitantly rammed into the Shadow. The Thieves were now in battle with a Cerberus, which called in backup.

Everyone was doing great. Skull did more damage than usual, Panther left more scars, Queen and Mona didn't need to heal everyone as much, Fox was more graceful, Oracle did amazing on helping them with their focus, Noir physically hurt the Shadows more affectively, Joker was doing...okay?

Joker was less cocky than he usually was. Actually, he wasn't cocky at all. He was always focused, graceful, and always was confident when they went into battle, but now he was having a hard time focusing even with Oracle's help. Just like last trip's. Joker missed many hits and was having trouble dodging the hits that came at him.

 _"Joker, you missed?!"_ Oracle whined.

"Sorry..." Joker mumbled apologetically.

The Thieves were about to finish the battle with an All Out Attack, but Joker got hit badly and was knocked onto the ground in pain.

"Dammit..!" Joker said under his breath.

Joker was about to heal himself, but he couldn't do anything. Literally. His body wouldn't do anything he wanted it to. Like his brain refused to cooperate.

 _"Queen! Heal Joker!"_ Oracle instructed.

Queen quickly used her Persona to heal her teammate.

 _'Why? I don't deserve it...!'_ Joker thought negatively.

Joker was lost in his thoughts and didn't see that one of the Shadows knock Fox down, causing him to lose blood. Joker looked at Fox with wide eyes. Voices started to take over Joker's head. 

_"It's all your fault!"_

_"If you did something she would still be alive!"_

_"You are so worthless!"_

_"She's dead because of you!"_

_"You are hopeless! You can't do anything!"_

_"She was your best friend and this is how you repay her?! By letting her die?!"_

Joker was hyperventilating with bulging eyes. He couldn't let what happened to her happen to Fox, his friend, his everything. Queen and Mona were helping Fox while the rest, except Joker, were fighting the Shadows.

All of a sudden, something inside Joker snapped in two. Joker darted for the Shadows in an inhuman like speed and his eyes a ruby-red color. The rest of the team were shocked by the sudden movement and stopped the attacks.

Joker started to slash at the Shadows with his weapon, causing the Shadows to fall, and bleed nonstop. Joker looked at the Cerberus dead in the eye.

"Nobody, and I mean nobody, hurts my teammate, my Fox! Understand?!" Joker shouted at the terrified Shadow. "Remember this next time you decide to cross me..!"

Joker turned around and looked at his, now horrified, teammates. Joker saw that Fox was now standing, and then realized what he had done to the Shadows and felt his heart jump into his throat.

_'Oh my God! Oh my God! Oh my God! What the hell did I just do?!'_

Joker tried his best to keep his composure and gripped the dagger he held for support. "T-take the Mona-Bus back to the entrance." 

"B-but what about you?" Queen asked concerned and still terrified.

"I'll-... I'll catch up with you guys l-later." Joker said, his voice wavering.

The rest of the team wanted to argue, but decided not to; Joker assuming it was due to fear. Mona, hesitantly, turned into a bus and then the team entered. Fox turned to look at Joker before he entered.

"J-just go Fox...I'm alright. Now please, get on the Mona-Bus..." Joker pleaded, his eyes stinging with tears.

Fox hesitantly nodded and got on the bus. The black bus drove off, leaving Joker behind.

* * *

"Okay what the hell just happened?!" Skull asked, panicky.

"I have no idea- _none of us_ have any idea!" Panther replied also panicky.

While the others were brainstorming on Joker's behavior, Fox was fidgeting with his fingers thinking,  _"I_ _hope he's alright...Please be alright..."_

* * *

Joker was sitting on the ground, knees to his chest, mask was off, head was buried in his arms, and he was crying nonstop. His heart hammered in his chest as he sobbed uncontrollably.

"It wasn't my fault...I-I didn't know...!" Joker sobbed. "I didn't know she was going to... to... gosh dammit!"

Joker stayed that way for a while.

 

* * *

 

After his episode of panic and sobs, Akira finally had traveled to the real world and he used his camera as a mirror to make sure he didn't look like he was crying too much.

"Damn it..." Akira mumbled, seeing his reflection.

Akira's reflection showed that he had tear stains on his cheeks, under his eyelids, and his eyes were a little red and puffy. Akira picked at his tear stains, hoping they'd come off. It helped, but unfortunately caused red scratch marks. Akira decided to try and hide his eyes instead so he fixed his bangs so his eyes wouldn't be shone completely, and he pulled his hood over so that way people won't be able to see the tear stains right away due to the darkness. 

After a few adjustments, Akira started walking towards Lablanc.


	2. Flashbacks and Late Night Messaging

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira shoved Ryuji away from him, nearly knocking him to the ground. "I said, LEAVE ME BE!" Akira shouted. Akira quickly ran away, with tears streaming down his cheeks. Ryuji started chasing him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is kinda sad so brace yourselves! And this chapter tells more about what happened to HER and why everybody blames Akira for HER death. Also I hope your Christmas was wonderful!

Akira was walking slowly towards the entrance of Lablanc, when he heard a female voice at the back of his head.

_"Akira..."_

Akira froze. His pulse pounding in his ears. Akira was trying to calm himself by using the same technique he always used.

"D-don't freak out Akira...don't f-freak...out It's not her... It's not her..." Akira mumbled to himself steading his breathing, "You're not real... You're gone... You're not here..."

After many useless mumbles, Akira finally entered Leblanc, with his hood up, eyes covered, and his hands in his pockets. Akira saw that his friends, and Sojiro, were staring at him with worried expressions on their faces. But, having done this before, he ignored them and kept his head down as started speed walking towards the attic.

Akira walked in the attic, crawled into his bed and faced the wall. Akira wasn't tired he just didn't want to face his team.

Morgana went upstairs, checked on Akira and walked back down towards his teammates. 

"He's asleep." Morgana informed, which of course was false.

"Why do you think he had his hood up?" Makoto asked.

"I dunno now, but he usually has his hood up when I hang out with him." Ryuji replied. "And he's been actin' strange since I took him to a movie this mornin'..." 

"'Strange'? Oh God, what did you do now?" Ann asked, with an agitated look.

"Wha- Nothin'! I just took him to see a mystery movie, is all! But after he was actin' all weird...." Ryuji explained. He scratched the back of hair neck and looked down at the table. "When I asked him about it he snapped at me...!"

"What did you ask specifically?" Makoto asked.

"I...I asked him why he was acting strange and he said that he wasn't acting strange and to mind my damn business for once...! And to just leave him be...!" Ryuji recited. "I started arguing with him and then he nearly shoved me to the ground and was close to hitting me...!"

"Er, did he sound choked up by any chance?" Sojiro asked, setting down the towel in his hands.

"I don't- well, actually, yeah kinda..." Ryuji replied slightly confused.

"Say _exactly_ what happened." Sojiro said, making everyone even more confused.

"M'kay," Ryuji began. "Here's how it started,"

 

_Akira was walking to the theatre, hoodie was on, and his hands were in his pockets. Akira saw Ryuji outside and walked towards him._

_"Hey...what movie are we seeing again...?" Akira asked._

_"I kinda forgot the title, but I know it's a mystery movie." Ryuji explained. "I think it's about a girl and her life...?"_

_Akira smiled at Ryuji's forgetfulness. "Well then, let's head on in shall we?" Akira asked playfully. Ryuji smiled._

_The two teens made it in the movie, turns out the movie was about a girl who died and was trying to get back to her body. After a few minutes into the movie, Akira grew incredibly uncomfortable. After a half hour, Akira was fighting back tears._

_After the movie was done, Akira and Ryuji, mostly Ryuji, decided to go to Big Bang Burger. Akira and Ryuji started walking to Big Bang Burger._

_Ryuji started making conversation with Akira, like about Akechi, Okumura, but Akira kept his head down, and was silent the whole time._

_"Hey, are you okay?" Ryuji finally decides to ask. Akira nods. Ryuji shrugs it off, but then Akira didn't react to anything Ryuji said._

_"Why are you acting strange all of a sudden?" Ryuji asked._

_Akira stopped walking and kept staring at the floor._

_"Akira?" Ryuji asked concerned._

_Akira started gritting his teeth hard enough to make him wince, his hands, which were in his pockets, were clenched hard enough to draw blood._

_"Akira are you okay? You haven't said a word since we left the restaurant..."_

_"Akira watch the road. Akira..! Akira, watch the road! Akira snap out of it! Watch the road-!!!"_

_"Akira?!" Ryuji shouted snapping Akira out of his thoughts._

_Akira had enough. Akira looked at Ryuji dead in the eye. Akira gave Ryuji a look he never gave to his friends._

_"I'm not acting strange. Can you mind your own business for once...?! Just leave me be...!" Akira snapped. Was it just Ryuji, or did Akira sound like he was choked up, and at an edge of a breakdown? Akira started walking past Ryuji and he bumped him in the shoulder, hard, as he was doing so._

_Ryuji was taken aback by the rudeness of his best friend. Ryuji walked after Akira and put his hand on Akira's shoulder making Akira face him._

_"What the hell was that?!" Ryuji asked unable to hide the anger and confusion in his voice._

_Akira shoved Ryuji away from him, nearly knocking him to the ground. "I said, LEAVE ME BE!" Akira shouted. Akira quickly ran away, with tears starting to stream down his cheeks. Ryuji started chasing him._

_"Akira! Wait!" Ryuji shouted. Akira ignored._

_Akira ran into an ally way, hiding from Ryuji. Ryuji ran past where Akira was hiding, but then stopped. Ryuji knew Akira would pull something like this so he went along with it._

_Akira was releived when he saw Ryuji run past him. Akira sank down to the ground and he started to remember some of his memories with her._

_"Akira are you okay? You haven't said a thing since we came back..."_

_"I had a lot on my mind okay?"_

_"Okay, but if you need to talk I'm always here ya know?"_

_"...Yeah...I know..."_

_Someone to talk to...that's what Akira needs right now, but something keeps telling him not to open up._

_Akira was lost in thought and didn't notice that Ryuji approached him._

_"Akira...?" Ryuji asked seeing his best friend's position._

_Akira's heart nearly jumped out of his chest due to fear._

_"I thought I told you to leave me be..." Akira said wiping his tears._

_Ryuji noticed him wiping his tears, got on the ground, and sat with Akira._

_"C'mon man... Talk to me, tell me what's wrong!" Ryuji encouraged._

_Akira was about to, but he heard a voice as if it was whispered directly into his ear._

_**"You don't want to look weak..."** _

_Something inside Akira snapped a little. Akira clenched his fists and swung at Ryuji, but stopped midway, realizing what he was doing._

_"I-I..." Akira choked on his own words. "I... Just leave me alone!"_

_Akira got up and started running towards who knows where._

_Ryuji sat up and was extremely worried, confused, and hurt._

 

 "...and yeah I was gonna ask him about it after we were done changin’ hearts, but well you know what happened..." Ryuji finished.

Silence took over the café.

Yusuke was about to say something until they all heard a loud sound.

**_Crash!_ **

It sounded like glass breaking.

"Stay here." Sojiro said firmly.

The others were confused and very worried.

Sojiro ran up to the attic, only to see Akira stomping and smashing up a photo.

"Kid. Kid! _Akira_!" Sojiro shouted getting Akira's attention.

Akira stopped smashing the photo, which the frame was now smashed to bits and the photo itself was slightly ripped, and looked up at the man with tears streaming like a river down his cheeks.

"Kid..." Sojiro mumbled concerned.

Akira collapsed onto his knees and pulled them to his chest and buried his head in his arms, sobbing

"...it-...it was my fault...! I was spacing out while driving and..." Akira was trying to explain between sobs. "...and... It's just... It's always my fault! Everything is always my fault...!"

Sojiro stared at the teenager with widened eyes. He sighed and walked towards the sobbing teenager and sat down with him.

"Look, it wasn't your fault kid. I might not know what happened completely, but i can tell you this: everything happens for a reason...whether we like it or not..." Sojiro explained. "So if you blame yourself, you really shouldn't." 

Akira was silent and just buried his head deeper in his arms.

Sojiro knew that Akira needed to be left alone, having experience with this before. The man sighed and stood up, ready walk towards the stairs, but stopped when he saw which photo Akira smashed.

Sojiro picked up the photo from the smashed frame and examined it. It was the photo the kid always had on the desk. The photo showed a twelve year old Akira with his mom, dad, and—maybe—an eleven year old girl with green twin-tails that were in braids. Akira had opened up to Sojiro once before and had mentioned how he _hated_ his parents, so, of course he folded the top of the photo so that the parents' faces were not shone, but Sojiro had no clue why Akira would want to ruin this particular photo. Sojiro placed the ripped photo on Akira's desk. Sojiro looked at Akira, who was still sitting on the ground, and suggested that he should probably lay down and try to sleep.

Surprisingly, Akira agreed.

Sojiro quickly, and carefully, gathered up the glass and frame and scooped it up in his hands to set it on the desk. After setting the mess aside, Sojiro started to walk back downstairs. 

Everyone had many questions, obviously.

"Is Akira alright?" Yusuke was first to ask. He was extremely worried, maybe even more worried than the others, aside from Ryuji.

Sojiro sighed. "He...is managing. Akira really needs to be left alone right now, so Futaba you'll need to take the cat home for a few days." Sojiro explained.

Futaba nodded and the cat meowed.

"I don't know why he's acting like this all of a sudden, but he needs a few days to recollect himself," Sojiro said.

The group understood and decided to leave and go home for the rest of the day. Futaba grabbed Morgana and made her way towards her house.

* * *

Yusuke was sitting on his bed in the dormitories with his phone, debating wether he should text Akira or not. He knew he shouldn't, but he didn't anyway. He needed to know if he was okay.

 **Yusuke:** Are you alright Akira?

Yusuke was not expecting an answer, but he saw that Akira was replying from the three dots.

 **Akira:** To be honest not really.

 **Yusuke:** Would you like to talk about it?

 **Akira:** Not really, but maybe another time I will, when I'm ready.

 **Yusuke:**  I'll be waiting until then.

 **Akira:** Thanks.

 **Yusuke:** For what exactly?

 **Akira:** For not pressuring me to talk. Usually others try to make me talk about my personal problems and I thank you for not doing that.

 **Yusuke:** Of course. You are my friend and I shall respect your privacy.

 **Akira:** :)

 **Yusuke:** :D

 **Akira:** :3

 **Yusuke:** (＾ω＾)

 **Akira:** Nya!

 **Yusuke:** (≧ω≦) 

 **Akira:** Haha! Thanks for checking up on me Yusuke. This made my day. (⌒▽⌒)

 **Yusuke:** I am glad. (＾ｖ＾)

 **Akira:** I wish I can talk to you all night, but on Sojiro's orders, I should rest. (─_─)

 **Yusuke:** I wish I could still talk to you as well, but if Boss recommends rest then you probably should.

 **Akira:** But I am not tired. ಠ_ಠ

 **Yusuke:** No buts. You need rest.

 **Akira:** Okay, mom. (´∀`)

 **Yusuke:** Why am I the mother?

 **Akira:** Because I want you to be. ╥﹏╥

 **Yusuke:** Are you doing this on purpose so that you don't have to go to bed?

 **Akira:**...Maybe...

 **Yusuke:** Akira. You. Need. Rest. 

 **Akira:**...Fine... Can you do at least one more kitty emoticon? Please!

 **Yusuke:** Anything for you.

 **Yusuke:** ヽ(*≧ω≦)ﾉ

 **Akira:** YAY!! Goodnight Yusuke! (^.^)

 **Yusuke:** Goodnight Akira! (＾ω＾)

Akira smiled when he read the last text. Akira was always happy when he and Yusuke would talk. Akira always had a crush on the artist, but always had his doubts that he liked him back. Akira changed into his bedtime clothes, got into a comfortable position, and slowly went into a peaceful sleep.

Yusuke chuckled when Akira asked him to send a kitty emoticon. Yusuke developed a crush on his leader, but had his doubts that he felt the same. Yusuke changed into his bedtime clothes, went into a comfortable position, and started to fall into a deep sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you enjoyed this chapter! I wish you all a great day!


	3. Blood, Sweat, and Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "All...I deserve is...pain..." Akira repeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ!  
> Hello! So this chapter is probably going to be REALLY SENSITIVE to some people who are reading this!  
> WARNING: This chapter contains SELF-HARM, and BLOOD! If this bothers you, DO NOT READ! PLEASE!

Akira was greeted by the morning rays of the bright sun as he heard his phone chime indicating that he had a message. Akira rubbed his eyes and started searching for his glasses. After finally finding his glasses, he immediately opened the message which was from Yusuke.

 **Yusuke:** (Good Morning Akira.} (=^>ω<^=)

 **Akira:** (=^･ｪ･^=) {Good Morning Yusuke!)

While Akira was waiting for his crush to reply, he decided to get ready for the day. Akira grabbed a fresh set of clothes, walked downstairs, walked out of the café, and towards the bathhouse.

* * *

After Akira was finished bathing, he put on the clothes he picked out and checked his phone to see if Yusuke messaged back.

 **Yusuke:** How are you?

 **Akira:** I am better than yesterday that's for sure. How are you?

Akira put his phone back in his pocket and began his walk towards the café.

Akira put the previous clothes he had in a box. Akira was about to make infiltration tools, but saw the picture he was smashing last night. Akira slowly picked up the photo and examined it. A small smile came as he stared at his eleven year old self. His hair was more tamable and he looked a lot more bright. Akira grabbed his probation diary that was safely stuck between a few books from the library. He opened up the pages and placed the photo carefully inside. Akira's phone chimed.

 **Yusuke:** I am doing quite well thank you. And I am glad to hear that you are better.

 **Yusuke:** Akira, might I ask you something?

 **Akira:** Of course. You can ask me anything.

 **Yusuke:** What happened last night in the attic?

Akira bit his lip thinking,  _"Should I tell him? I hate keeping secrets from him...or anyone.."_

 **Akira:** Well you see a photo of mine fell and some objects fell on it and it broke the glass frame.

Akira felt guilty. "I'm sorry Yusuke..." Akira mumbled under his breath. He couldn't tell him. He just couldn't. Not yet.

 **Yusuke:** Oh. The way Boss told us about how you were made it sound like something terrible happened to you.

 **Akira:** Haha **.**  No I'm perfectly fine (´∀`)

 **Yusuke:** Are you sure? Is the picture alright?

 **Akira:** Yes, I am sure and the picture is slightly damaged, but that's probably because it's old.

 **Yusuke:** Okay, as long as your alright.

 **Akira:** I am don't worry! (^.^)

 **Yusuke:** Okay **.**  (＾ｖ＾)

Akira smiled. He still felt guilty for lying to Yusuke. Akira didn't want to burden his friend with his problems.

Having nothing better to do, Akira decided to write in his probation diary. Akira wrote about how he was feeling, tiny descriptions about his past, his family, and if he wanted to leave Tokyo, which of course was no. So, the cliche. Akira was about to close his diary, but flipped to the back and took out the picture he smashed. Akira looked at the photo for a very long time with teary eyes. Mostly because of her.

Her hair, her rosy cheeks, the sparkle in her blue eyes...

Akira soon grew angry and slammed the photo on the desk and flipped to a blank page in his diary. Akira started to write.

_I hate them. I hate them. I HATE them. I HATE THEM!_

_I hate Kara! I hate Taro! I hate being a Kurusu! I hate my abusive parents! I hate that they pretend to love me! I hate that they hurt me! I hate how they treat my sister! The person who actually cares for me in my family!_

Akira stopped writing for a second and then resumed.

_'I hate myself. I hate that I killed her, that I hurt her, that I burdened my family and my friends! I hate that I lie to my friends that I am okay... I don't belong anywhere. I don't deserve my friends. I don't deserve anything. All I deserve is pain. I DESERVE EVERY AMOUNT OF PAIN FOR WHAT I DID!_

Akira meant what he wrote. If only he has been more focused- no, if he hadn't been so STUPID! She would still be alive to this day! 

Akira's hands started to tremble and it felt as if he has a chill. His own hands didn't even feel like they were his when his ears started to ring. He robotically reached over to the broken glass and held it in his hand. The sharp edges dig into his skin and blood began to pour. Without a moments hesitation, he placed it onto his left wrist. Akira heard a voice at the back of his head.

_"All. You. Deserve. Is. Pain."_

"All...I deserve is...pain..." Akira repeated. Akira started to cut his wrist. The glass penetrated the pale skin, but the pain was numb to Akira. Blood dripped from his wrist. Some blood dripped on his diary, but he didn't care. He started to cut more and more deep. 

One cut...

Two cuts...

Three cuts....

Four...

Five...

Even six!

Akira suddenly snapped back to reality and quickly got up from his chair, but he fell and sank to the floor causing him to drop the, now bloody, glass shard and he let his wrist fall on to the wooden floor.

"Shit, shit, shit, shit!" Akira whimpered as he tried to cover his wrist, only causing more blood flow. Akira's vision started to flash between fuzzy and clear. The pain was too numb. He couldn't feel anything. Akira started to hear someone walk up the stairs.

"I'm gonna run to the store really- Akira!" Sojiro exclaimed, shocked. Sojiro ran towards the teenager.

"What the hell did you do?!" Sojiro asked.

Sojiro quickly ran downstairs to grab a wet rag. Sojiro ran back up to the attic and placed the rag on Akira's bloody wrist and tied it. Without hesitation, Sojiro quickly called the hospital.

Sojiro kept aiding Akira until the paramedics would arrive. Sojiro noticed the glass shard and realized he forgot to dispose of the glass from the frame. Sojiro also noticed the diary. Sojiro knew he can't just invade someone's privacy, but he couldn't ignore the fact that the page was practically scrambled with 'I hate'. Sojiro started reading the page and realized why Akira cut himself.

"I...can't anymore..." Akira muttered now crying. "I...just can't...!"

"You can't what?" Sojiro asked extremely concerned.

"I...can't take it...! I just...can't live with the...fact that...I killed her..." Akira sobbed. "And I can't live with the lying...!"

"Lying?" Sojiro repeated.

"I lie every fucking day...! They lie everyday and I hate it!" Akira muttered. "My parents lied...my friends lied... I lie when I tell myself that I matter to people...! They lie that...that they care for me..! How can anyone?! I am nothing...! Nothing, but a burden and they all know it...! I can't handle it anymore!"

Sojiro was about to protest, but he heard people rushing up the stairs. The paramedics.

"About time!" Sojiro mumbled.

The paramedics were females and they quickly rushed Akira out of Leblanc, and into the ambulance.

Sojiro rode in the front and messaged Futaba.

 **Sojiro:** Quickly go to the hospital. Bring your friends. Akira's injured.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry that this was short and didn't really describe Akira's actions I was in a rush.  
> Anyway I hope you enjoyed I wish you all a great day!


	4. Hospital Visit With a Side of Tears.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone quieted down when the door opened revealing a female in doctor scrubs which had bloodstains.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So this chapter is probably unrealistic, but some of the lines are facts. (Probably only 1 or 2) I hope you all enjoy!

Futaba nearly flipped out of her chair when she read Sojiro's message. Futaba quickly messaged the rest of the team.

**Futaba:** Quickly! Head to the hospital! Akira's hurt! Don't ask questions!

Futaba woke up Morgana from his slumber.

"Gah! Futaba..! What is it?" Morgana asked stretching.

"Akira's in the hospital! Quickly get into my bag kitty!" Futaba shouted.

Morgana quickly jumped into Futaba's bag without hesitation. Futaba quickly grabbed her coat, slipped on her boots, grabbed the bag Morgana was in, and ran out her house. Futaba started running in the direction of the hospital. She didn't care how far the building was as long as she could see her brother.

* * *

Ryuji nearly jumped out of his skin when he got Futaba's message. Without hesitation, the teenager slipped on his shoes, and darted into the living room where his mom was. 

"Mom! Quickly I need a ride to the hospital!" Ryuji shouted startling his mother.

"Why?" Ryuji's mother asked concerned.

"Akira's in the hospital! He got injured!" Ryuji explained.

Ryuji's mother quickly slipped on her shoes, grabbed her car keys, and turned to look at her son. "Let's go! Quickly in the car!" She said hurrying her son.

Ryuji ran out the apartment and quickly jumped in the car along with his mother.

* * *

Ann was doing a photoshoot in Shibuya. 

"Alright break!" The photographer shouted.

Ann checked her phone for any notifications and saw the message Futaba sent. Ann immediately grabbed her belongings and rushed towards the photographer and said, "So sorry, but I have to leave!" Ann was about to run, but was stopped by someone grabbing her arm.

"Huh?! B-but what about the photoshoot?" The photographer asked.

"I can't do it! Sorry!" Ann ran towards the station without another word.

* * *

Makoto was leaving the library when she heard her phone chime. Makoto checked her phone and saw that it was from Futaba. Makoto gasped and he bag fell from her shaly hand. Makoto ran towards her van and quickly drove to the hospital, not caring about her bag.

* * *

Haru was in a meeting for the Big Bang Burger announcements when she heard her phone buzz. 

"Excuse me for a moment." Haru excused herself.

Haru stepped outside of the room and checked her phone and her jaw dropped. Haru quickly opened the door and said, "I apologize, but I must leave!" Haru explained panicky. 

Without another word, Haru ran out of the Diet Building and ran toward the hospital.

* * *

Yusuke was in the dorm of Kosei painting when his phone chimed. Yusuke checked the notification and dropped his paint brush in shock and panic. Yusuke literally ran out of Kosei and towards the station without any stops. His heart jumped up and down and he felt a small chill.

_"Please be safe, please be safe, please be safe!"_ Yusuke thought with tears starting to form in his gray eyes.

* * *

Akira was in the ambulance with one of the paramedics and he was being treated.

"Patient is losing blood, heart rate is at seventy-eight beats per minute. Patient has glass inside his wrist I need to remove it." The female paramedic informed the driver. She turned to look at Akira who was exhausted. "Hey. What's your name?" The lady asked.

Akira looked around trying to figure out where he was.

"A...Akira...Ku...Kurusu..." Akira managed to say. "Wh-where...am I...? Where are...they...?!" 

Akira's heart started to beat rapidly, causing more panic.

"Patients heart rate is at ninety-seven, one hundred-nine, one hundred-twenty, hurry up on the driving!" The lady informed. "Focus on your breathing Kurusu-san. We are almost to the hospital."

Akira started to lose consciousness.

"Kurusu-san? Kurusu-san!"

 

 

 

 

 

 

_"It's your fault she's dead!"_

_"If you did something she would still be alive!"_

_"She was your best friend and this is how you repay her?!"_

_"It's not his fault Taro!"_

_"Akira are you okay?"_

_"Akira watch the road. Akira watch the road! Akira snap out of it! Watch the road-!!!"_

_"I hate you with everything I have! I am scared to mention your name! I hate that your our parents!"_

_"All. You. Deserve. Is. Pain...!"_

_"Pain...!"_

_" **PAIN...!"**_

 

 

 

 

 

 

His ears rang and his face felt like it was being covered. A mask maybe? Akira couldn't open his eyes, but he could hear what was happening.

"His condition is unusual." A lady's voice. "Yes, you can die if you cut deep enough on the wrist, but I don't think this much damage can be caused from that...!"

"Well... I mean he was in an accident last year according to his parents..." He heard a familiar voice. Sojiro? "Can that be a cause?"

"Was it a car accident?" The woman asked.

"Yes." Sojiro replied.

"Well that might be a possibility due to the fact that his lungs are not functioning properly, and his bones are chipped...'' The lady assumed. "But then again that does not explain why his breathing is extremely low,"

"When will he wake up?" Sojiro asked.

"That... we do not know of." The woman said sadly. "If he shows any reactions to anything we will handle it from there,"

Akira heard Sojiro sigh. "Can his friends see him?"

"...one at a time." The nurse finally said. "Which one is the most closest?"

"Probably Sakamoto, the blonde boy." Sojiro replied.

Akira heard a door open. Footsteps were coming towards him.

"We will leave you two alone." The lady said.

 

He heard footsteps leaving and a door closing. He heard ragged breathing and a sniffle. He felt someone grab the sides of the bed. "The hell man...?" Ryuji? "Why the eff did you cut yourself?! We care about you dammit!"

Akira felt his body shake and he heard sniffles again. Was... was Ryuji crying?

"If you can hear me, just-...just know that we are all worried. Especially Yusuke, he's trying his hardest to keep his composure, obviously..." Ryuji gave a hollow laugh. "He, uh, nearly hit the receptionist for not lettin' us see you. We had to hold him back."

Akira was about to move, but he was paralyzed. Did he perhaps have sleep paralysis? Or was he sedated?

"Huh...?" Ryuji mumbled.

Akira felt something wet stream down his right cheek. Was he crying?

"Well... I-I guess I should let the others see you..." Ryuji said sadly. "Bye Akira. Just, um... Just know that we all care...okay?" 

Akira heard faint footsteps leave the room. _They care, huh. Could've fooled me..._

He heard faith voices and then he heard footsteps and the door. "Akira?" Ann asked. She was next. "I don't know if you can hear me, but..." Akira heard a sniffle, "I-I j-just wanted to let you know th-that we are all worried about you...! An-and we care!"

Ann put her hand on Akira's hand and she sobbed. "I-I...am so sorry we weren't there! We should've noticed something sooner... B-but...please... If you can hear me show a sign or something...!" 

Akira felt his heart ache when he heard another sob. He tried to move his fingers—that's what he was told to do when in paralysis after all. They wouldn't move. Was he just exhausted?

Ann sighed and sniffed. "I'll.... let Makoto see you... Bye..."

Footsteps started to fade from earshot and the door opened and more voices. About two seconds later, more footsteps we're heard and then the door closed again. Akira felt a familiar presence beside him.

"Akira... Why did you do this...?!" Makoto cried. "We all care about you. You know that right? We do!" 

Akira heard Makoto suck in a large breath and release it shortly after. She was trying to keep her composure. She often held her breath when in the process.

Makoto sighed and squeezed Akira's hand. "I...will let Futaba see you now... I apologize that these visits didn't last long... Goodbye..." She held Akira's hand for a moment before she finally left go and the footsteps were heard.

The door opened again. Voices, footsteps, and then the door. The same exact process.

The sound of running feet caught Akira's attention immediately.

"Joker!" Akira felt whatever he was laying on move from his little sister-like teammate. He heard a choked sob. "Your our leader you have to tell us if something is wrong! Dammit, we're family!" Futaba cried and sniffed. "Your like family to me... I'm not ready to lose my brother...! The one who saved me!"

Akira could almost feel his tears stream.

"Th-they probably t-told you already, b-but... Inari nearly hit the re-receptionist guy...!" Futaba let out a forced, breathless chuckle. "...he really cares about you, you know...a-and I know you like him... I can tell from a mile away that you do... Do the others know? They won't judge...!" 

Akira felt his heart stop. Oh God, did they know? 

Futaba sighed after a moment of silence. "I didn't tell anyone... B-but I think you should tell Inari how you feel.... I'm no love expert, but I know that you should tell him. Do the others know that you l-like guys?" Futaba sniffed and cleared her throat, "I, uh, guess someone else should see you huh? I-I'll let Noir in... B-bye Joker...." Futaba's presence slowly left.

Footsteps left the room, for the fourth time, the door opened for the fifth time, voices were heard, the door, then footsteps.

"Akira-kun?" Haru asked. Akira felt her walk next to him and grab his hand. He tried to squeeze her hand, but his body would not cooperate.

"I-I wish you didn't hurt yourself..." he heard sobs. "We all care for you...! E-e-especially Y-yusuke-kun. We had to hold him back s-so he wouldn't act in violence towards the receptionist you know...!" Haru choked on a sob and she squeezed Akira's hand. She sniffed and sighed. "I-I apologize for my outburst... but it pains me to see you like this..."

Haru didn't say any more and just tried to recollect herself. After what felt like eternity, she sighed, "I-I...should probably let Yusuk-kun see you... I hope you wake up soon...." 

The exact same cycle happened. Footsteps, voices, the door, footsteps!

 

"Akira!" Yusuke's presence came in faster than you could say his name and he even pushed the bed like Futaba did. "Why didn't you say anything?! You told me you were fine!"

Yusuke released a shaky breath and a small, barely audible sob came. He grabbed  Akira's hand and raised it. The raven felt lips against his skin.

Did...Yusuke just....kiss his hand?

"I'm...s-sorry..." he heard the artist mumble against Akira's hand. "We...should've known something was wrong..."

Akira tried to do... something! His body had to have gotten through sedatives or whatever was in him! Even a grunt would've been appreciated! Akira used whatever he had in him to do anything. Grunt, groan, moan, squeeze, rotate, scream!

That's when he fell it.

He squeezed Yusuke's hand!

He heard a small gasp and Yusuke moved Akira's hand away, "I...I thought you... c-couldn't respond...!" Akira felt Yusuke's hand tremble and heard him release shaky breaths.

"W-wait a moment!"

Akira heard footsteps rush out towards the door. He heard the door open, then he heard Yusuke say, "H-he moved!"

Akira heard multiple footsteps rush towards him.

Akira knew the people in front of him wanted to see him move so he tried and this time it was less exhausting. Akira moved his fingers. He was slowly coming out of whatever paralysis he was I.

"Okay we will proceed with physical therapy so that way Kurusu-kun can recover faster...!" The woman from before explained. "Kurusu-kun hasn't opened his eyes yet, however, but he has moved so hopefully he'll wake up soon."

Akira twitched his toes. A response! 

"Hm, let me try something..." The woman mumbled. "Kurusu-kun, if you can hear me, move your index finger,"

Akira felt his heart beat faster in excitement when his finger twitched.

"Thank God..." she gasped, "All right, so he can hear us!" he heard a few noises of excitement and relief from around the room. "Okay so he heard you guys talking that's a good sign. Maybe something from home will trigger his senses?"

"I know one, but it's in his room." Sojiro said. "Maybe I can run over there and come right back?" 

"That would be appreciated and very useful." The nurse replied. "Anything else?"

Akira heard footsteps and then the door. He heard a few grunts of negative responses, but then he heard, "I... actually do have something, but I don't know if it'll be of use." Yusuke said.

"Anything in this situation will be of use. If any of you can stop by tomorrow then drop off any items, or even present them yourself,  it would be greatly appreciated!" The nurse exclaimed. 

Everyone made noise of agreement. Akira was finally going to be awake and aware! But before he could get excited for a minute, he felt a sudden fire-y pain in his chest.

* * *

 

Akira's heart rate started rising.

79...

89...

93...

102...

110...

116...

126....

139...

Akira started hyperventilating even in his unconscious state—which was far from normal. Akira's chest even started rising and lowering in an inhuman speed. Akira's head started turning left and right and his ears started to visibly bleed.

The nurse quickly opened the door and shouted, "I need Dr. Konishi!" The nurse rushed toward a drawer that was in the corner of the room and grabbed syringes and medicine. The door flew open and three people came in and rushed towards Akira. One of them was a female and the two others were male.

"I'm sorry, but you all need to leave...!" The nurse told the group of friends. The others left, but Yusuke immediately protested.

"What? I am not leaving!"

Yusuke felt his arms being grabbed. He looked and saw he was being dragged out by Ryuji and Makoto.

"N-no...! Akira...! I can't leave!"

"Dude calm down!" Ryuji shouted pulling Yusuke out of the room. Yusuke started to kick on reflex until he was forcefully thrown out.

"Let the doctors do their job." Makoto instructed firmly.

Yusuke was panicking and Ryuji, Ann, Haru, and Mokoto were not helping. Futaba stepped in.

"Your not helping Inari!" The red head scolded. "Your just making things worst!"

The group of teenagers looked at Futaba. 

"What're you talking about?" Ann asked dumbfounded.

Futaba sighed disappointedly. "Inari is panicking and you guys are making it worse! He knows he has to let the doctors do their job, he's just worried!" Futaba explained.

The rest of the friends felt guilty. "We apologize Yusuke." Mokoto said apologetically.

Yusuke just nodded. The rest of the group started talking to each other, but Yusuke was sitting in a chair and was looking impatient and extremely worried. Futaba approached him and left her bag, that had Morgana in it, in her seat which was away from the artist.

"I'm worried too..." Futaba said sitting next to Yusuke.

Yusuke looked up from the ground and looked at the girl. 

"I'm scared Futaba..." Yusuke confessed,.

"I know. I am too. Um... Hey I have a question." Futaba whispered grabbing Yusuke's attention. "This is just out of curiosity, but do you l-like Akira?" 

Yusuke's pale cheeks turned a rosy red. "I-I mean he's our leader and I admire him. Was that your question?" Yusuke asked panicky.

Futaba chuckled slightly. "Don't worry Inari I won't tell...!" Futaba promised still whispering.

"I... thank you. Why do you ask?" Yusuke asked curiously. 

"Just wondering..."

* * *

Futaba managed to calm Yusuke down, but then they all heard screaming coming from the room. Yusuke had wide eyes filled with anxiety and worry. Futaba somehow managed to calm Yusuke down again when Sojiro came back.

"What happened?" Sojiro asked wondering why the friends are outside.

"Akira started hyperventilating and the doctors needed to tend to him. We got shooed out." Mokoto explained.

Sojiro sighed sadly and anxiously.

"What is that you are holding?" Haru asked.

Sojiro held up the item so everyone could see.

"It's his probation diary and recently it's been very sentimental to him." Sojiro explained.

"'Sentimental'?" Futaba asked.

"Let's just say he's more open in this." Sojiro said.

Everyone quieted down when the door opened revealing a female in doctor scrubs which had bloodstains.

"How is he?" Yusuke asked immediately.

"He's stable. We believe that he had an anxiety attack, but that still doesn't explain why he was reacting the way he did." The female doctor explained. "Oh, by the way I am Dr. Konishi." The female held out he hand to the teenagers and Sojiro which they shook.

"May we see him?" Sojiro asked before Yusuke could.

"You may see him, but you have to be at a distance." Dr. Konishi explained before opening the door.

Everyone was shocked at the sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha! Cliffhanger! >:3 I hope you all enjoyed! I wish you all a great day and NEW YEARS!


	5. Hospital Flashbacks and Voices

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira fought through the exhaustion and, to his surprise, his gray, dull eyes, opened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAPPY NEW YEARS! So this is, again, unrealistic, but that is what creates fanfiction! Also Akira's condition is mostly caused by the fact that he is distorted so I hope this isn't to confusing! On with the chapter!

Akira was lying down on the hospital bed, but he had breathing tubes on him. Many breathing tubes. Akira's injured hand looked freshly bandaged, but it was stained with blood and the floor was being cleaned. Akira's hospital clothes had bloodstains too, especially on the abdomen.

The nurse—they never did catch her name, was giving Akira medicine. Yusuke covered his mouth with his hands in pure shock and disbelief as he continued to stare at the boy. Tears started to form in all of their eyes.

"When Kurusu-san was having that attack his wrist was gushing with blood and because if the previous accident he was in, it caused his lungs to not function properly and his bones to crack easily," Dr. Konishi explained. "We believe that Kurusu-san might not wake up until tomorrow morning or evening or maybe not until a few days even. So if you can, please visit tomorrow so you can represent the objects to him."

"Why do we need to keep our distance?" Makoto asked. 

"Well Kurusu-san is in a sensitive condition, so we don't want to risk contact. Especially with all of you." The doctor said.

"What do you mean by that?" Yusuke asked curiously.

"It's just....safer this way," Yusuke stared the woman down. She seemed like she was hiding something. He did not like it.

Dr. Konishi walked over to Akira and examined him. Dr. Konishi tapped Akira's hand and Akira didn't respond.

"Hm..." Dr. Konishi hummed to herself. Yusuke raised and eyebrow. What was this woman doing?

Dr. Konishi looked at the worried and confused teens and Sojiro.

"Well Kurusu-san may or may not be able to move soon then again he did go through a lot. If I'm correct, he might be able to move tomorrow morning." The doctor informed looking at her watch. "I apologize, but your visiting time is up. I gave you all extra time. I apologize."

Everyone nodded and surprisingly, so did Yusuke. Everyone left the hospital room. Yusuke looked at the ground as he walked with the group out of the hospital.

 

* * *

 

_"There's glass in his veins we'll need to remove the bits!"_

_"But what if it kills him?"_

_"We'll need to risk it! I'd rather risk a life than do nothing at all!"_

_"...Proceed with the removal."_

_"Okay, scalpel."_

_"Scalpel."_

_"Okay, hold Kurusu-san down for me please."_

_"Okay cutting into the wrist. I need extra hands over here!"_

_"I'm on it."_

_"Hold open the cut while I try to remove the glass."_

I felt a burning sensation surrounding my wrist and I felt my body moving, but I couldn't control it. 

_"I'm almost done. I got them out!"_

I felt hot tears running down my cheeks as the doctors let my wrist go, but I still couldn't open my damn eyes! I felt a liquid, probably blood, fall down the edge of my wrist. I felt cloth being wrapped around my wrist soaking up the blood. I felt something ooze out from my abdomen. I started hyperventilating again causing the doctors to quickly tend to me.

_"What is that?"_

I felt my shirt, I think it was a shirt, being lifted up showing my abdomen.

_"What the hell?! Oh no his scar from the car crash opened up! G_ _rab a syringe! Hurry!"_

_"Here!"_

_"Hold him down again!"_

I felt arms hold me down. I tried to brace myself, but I had no idea how. I can't move dammit! 

_"Okay. I'm going to insert the needle and try to remove the blood. Okay hold him down!"_

I felt a shooting pain in my gut, a burning feeling in my veins, and I groaned loudly and my body was being controlled again. I don't know how, but it was.

_"Okay, almost- The hell?! Grab as much blood tubes as you can!"_

_"Here!"_

_"Okay. I've got most of it out. This'll do. Let go if Kurusu-san!"_

The burning stopped and the straps were released. I felt sweat trickle down my temples as more of the tears streamed down. I couldn't hear anything much due to the fact that, I MIGHT BE DYING!

After awhile, and by a while I mean five minutes of cleaning my abdomen, which is STILL BLEEDING, my wrist, and the nurse, who's name I still don't know, was giving me medicine as I heard the door open and footsteps walking in.

 _"Great. More people get to see me."_ I thought.

 

* * *

 

 

 _"What's the point? No one will care! Nobody cares!"_ Akira thought negatively as he gave up on trying to move.

Akira suddenly heard a female voice. 

 _"Akira, don't give up...! Don't give up_ _like I did...I didn't know what to do and I gave up...! Don't give up!"_ The voice pleaded.  _"Please...! So many people care for you...! Yusuke cares for you...! I can tell you love him so don't give up! Fight for him Akira...!"_

Akira started crying. He recognized the voice and he felt confused, sad, and slightly angry.

 _"I miss you... And your right... I do love Yusuke... I'll fight for him and for you..."_ Akira replied.

 _"I miss you to Akira... I'll always be with you and don't you dare forget that...!"_  The voice reminded. _"I_ _'ll try to help you as much as I can...! Now fight..!"_

Akira started trying to move with all of his might. Akira pushed through the exhaustion and was able to move his hand. Akira tried to keep his hand up for as long as he can, which was surprisingly for about three minutes, until he couldn't anymore. Akira heard the door open and footsteps walk calmly toward him.

"Kurusu-kun? Kurusu-kun, can you hear me?" The nurse asked.

Akira tried to move his hand again and this time it was less exhausting. The nurse must've seen because Akira heard a sigh of relief.

"Kurusu-kun, if you can hear me move your pinkie finger." The nurse instructed.

Akira moved his pinkie.

"Okay, are you able to open your eyes?" The nurse asked. "If you can't, move your index finger and if you can, open your eyes."

Akira tried to open his eyes. 

 _"Please. Please. PLEASE, let me open my eyes...!"_ Akira mentally pleaded.

Akira fought through the exhaustion and, to his surprise, his gray, dull eyes opened. He was immediately blinded by the bright lights of the hospital.

The nurse gasped with relief.

"Hey, Kurusu-kun...!" The nurse greeted with teary eyes, and a smile on her face.

Akira widened his eyes in shock.

"A...Aunt...Sa...ki...?" Akira rasped out confused.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you all enjoyed! I wish you all a great day and NEW YEAR!  
> (〜^∇^)〜 { IT'S 2018!! WOOO!!!)
> 
> (Edit: oh lord, okay, so I am going through chapters rewriting a few parts and I am cringing! Ugh! How do you guys read this trash!? Wtf)


	6. First Visitor

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira was afraid of that question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry this is rushed, but next one will be better! Now it's finished! On with the chapter!
> 
> (Edit: oh God, what is this? I'm rewriting a few things, and I am wondering how y'all can stand this!)

Akira was shocked that his aunt was his nurse.

"Wh...why...are...you he...re...?" Akira asked still not used to talking.

"Well I work here." Saki replied. "Why are you here?"

Akira's face saddened. "I...am...here..be...cause...I cut...my...wrist..." Akira answered ashamed.

Saki started tearing up. "Can I ask why you did it?" She asked.

Akira was silent. He really did not want to answer.

Saki sighed. "You don't have to say, but know that if you need someone to talk to I'm always here." Saki reassured. "I know I wasn't always there for you and Aria, but after I found out about the abuse I gained full custody of Aria."

Akira smiled slightly. "Th...ank...you..." Akira rasped out.

"Oh, your friend and guardian have some objects they would like to present to you." Saki informed.

"How...is...Yu...suke...?" Akira asked.

"He's managing. You probably heard already, but he nearly hit one of our receptionists." Saki replied amused. She giggled, "The receptionist was an asshole anyway."

Akira smiled. "When...are they-" Akira stopped midway from a sudden cough. 

Saki grabbed a glass of water she filled in case Akira woke up. Saki pulled down the breathing mask and gave Akira some water.

"Thank you..." Akira thanked as Saki pulled the mask back up. "When are they...going to...visit...?" 

Saki thought for a moment. "Well I can call them and have them visit right now if you'd like." 

Akira bit his lip thinking. "Maybe in a...little bit..."

Saki nodded. "Hey, let's try to get you to move a little bit?" Saki suggested.

Akira tried nodding and succeeded. "Okay, try moving your non-injured hand."

Akira was able to move his hand surprisingly easy. Maybe it was because he was conscious.

"Good. Try your arm."

Akira slowly moved his arm, but stopped after it, for some reason, started hurting. Akira winced.

Saki looked at Akira's arm and saw that there was a bruise and a scar.

"Well it's still progress. Try to move your foot."

Akira exhaled. Akira was able to move his toes and after a few attempts, his feet.

Saki smiled. "Any more scars I need to know about?"

Akira thought for a second. "Well...there's two on my legs...four on my shoulders...and a few on my...four arm..."

Saki frowned. "Are they from Kara and Taro?" Saki asked concerned.

Akira nodded sadly. "And...from the crash..."

Saki's eyes started to form tears. "I'm sorry..."

Akira smiled sadly. "It's fine...you couldn't have...known..." 

Saki wiped her misty eyes and asked, "Would you like me to call your friends?" 

Akira nodded. Saki walked out of the room, leaving Akira with his thoughts. 

"Yuki...?" Akira asked. "Can...you hear...me...?"

_"Yeah..."_

"Do...you think...that Yusuke...will be mad at me...?" 

_"To be honest kinda, but I think he will comfort you instead of yell at you..."_

"Thanks... I'm sorry..."

_"For what...?"_

"For...crashing the car...hurting you..."

_"No don't apologize...I was the one who gave up... So don't blame yourself..."_

Akira smiled slightly.

_"Also, how are things with you and Yusuke?"_

Akira blushed. "I swear...if your making the face..."

_"Maybe..."_

"Of...course you are... And to answer your question...I don't really know..."

_"Hmm interesting..."_

"Are you...doing your detective face...?"

_"Yup...!"_

Akira smiled from ear to ear. "I miss you..."

_"I miss you too, Aki-chan..."_

Akira smiled sadly and felt tears sting his eyes. He would've talked more, but Saki came back in.

"Your friends are on their way right now. Would you like me to get you more water?" Saki asked.

Akira nodded.

Saki walked towards the empty glass and  left the room once more.

"Yuki...what's it...like...?" Akira asked.

_"What do you mean?"_

"Dying..."

 _"Oh...well if your asking if it hurts, it honestly depends on what your situation is... Mine for example was half painless... It hurt when I was in the hospital, but when I gave up it didn't hurt at all._ _.. Why do you ask?"_

"..no reason..."

* * *

 

Saki came back after an hour and she had a smile on her face. "Hey, your friends and guardian are here." Saki informed. "Who'd you like to see first?"

Akira thought for a few seconds.

"Y...Yusuke....please..." Akira rasped out anxiously.

Saki nodded and quickly placed the glass of water on the desk and walked back out to get Yusuke.

"Crap...crap...!" Akira mumbled to himself and to Yuki.

_"It's okay Akira...just calm down..."_

Akira nodded. Akira heard the door and footsteps. Yusuke rushed to Akira's side.

"H-hey...Yusuke..." Akira greeted.

Yusuke started tearing up. "Hey Akira..."

Akira started tearing up as well. Yusuke grabbed a nearby chair, pulled it close to the bed, and sat on it.

"How are you feeling?" Yusuke asked.

"Well...to be honest...kinda in pain, but...other than that....I'm fine..." Akira replied.

Yusuke grabbed Akira's non-bandaged hand and held it. Akira blushed, thinking back on that kiss.

"...I'm sorry..." Yusuke said suddenly. 

"For what...?" Akira asked.

"For this happening... I probably could've done something..." Yusuke was now crying.

Akira moved his hand and wiped Yusuke's tears. Yusuke held Akira's hand to his rosy cheek. Akira smiled as a tear fell down his face.

"Why did you do it Akira?" Yusuke asked removing Akira's hand from his cheek.

Akira was afraid of that question.

"I just... I couldn't take it anymore... I feel like I'm trapped... I always feel like I'm trapped...and rotting..in a damn cell...!" Akira replied now crying himself.

Yusuke's eyes widened. Yusuke sat up and caressed Akira's cheek, wiping away his warm tears. Akira looked at the teary artist and smiled bashfully. Yusuke sat back down and intertwined his fingers with Akira's. 

"Akira, just know that I care for you and always will..." Yusuke said looking at Akira's bandaged wrist.

Akira blushed. Akira squeezed Yusuke's hand.

"Th-thanks... I care for you to..." Akira muttered.

Yusuke started messing with Akira's fluffy hair and of course making Akira blush even harder. Yusuke kept playing with Akira's hair and Akira was telling him about what happened yesterday when he was having the 'anxiety attack'. Yusuke stopped playing with Akira's hair and pulled something out of his pocket.

"The nurse told us to bring objects and I brought this..." Yusuke said with rose on his cheeks. "Though I don't think it would've been much help.."

Yusuke held a picture and showed it to Akira. Akira smiled at the picture. The picture was of him and Yusuke when they were in Inokashira Park on the boat. Akira remembers that he took the photo and gave it to Yusuke for safe keeping. Akira slightly blushed at the memory. Then again, when isn't he blushing?

"I remember...when I took that photo..." Akira commented with the smile that never left.

Yusuke looked at the photo again and smiled. "I remember when you nearly fell into the water," Yusuke reminded amused.

Akira chuckled. "I remember... Good thing you caught...me in time..." 

Yusuke's smile became brighter. "Yeah... Remember when you practically forced me to join your contest on who could catch the most blossoms?" 

Akira laughed. "Yeah...! I still think you cheated...!" 

Yusuke laughed as well. "I have never cheated. It's just called skill...!" 

Akira decided to play along. "Yeah and that skill is called cheating...!"

Yusuke chuckled and gave Akira's hand a squeeze. Yusuke smiled from ear to ear. "Call it what you would like. You actually caught more than I had originally anticipated." 

"Of course...! Luckily the blossoms fell faster...than normal..." Akira commented still smiling.

Yusuke and Akira had a moment of silence and just stared at each other. "Akira I-" Yusuke was interrupted by a knocking at the door. Yusuke released Akira's hand and walked to open the door. Akira's bright smile started fading when Yusuke let go of his hand. Yusuke opened the door and Saki was outside and was saying words that Akira couldn't hear. Yusuke nodded and turned to Akira who was looking at the photo.

Yusuke walked towards Akira and said, "I apologize, but I must leave..." 

Akira's eyes saddened. "Okay..." 

Yusuke gave one last smile before he walked out of the hospital room. Akira stared at the photo and he sighed deeply.

_"You okay Akira...?"_

"Yeah..." Akira mumbled sadly.

Saki walked toward Akira. "Who would you like to see next?" She asked.

Akira thought for a minute. "Who's...out there...?"

"Basically all of your friends and guardian." Saki replied. "Also I was wondering if you would like to see Aria."

Akira's face lit up. "Yeah...! Wait she's...in Tokyo...?" Akira asked confused.

Saki nodded. "I'll let one of your friends in and I will call Aria." Saki left the room and told Ryuji to visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoyed! I wish you all a great day!


	7. Second Visitor and Akira's Sister

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I would like to discuss a matter with all of you..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So I rushed this(AGAIN!!! WHY DO I DO THIS?!) but I was trying to get an update in because well this NEEDED to be updated! I apologize. Anyways on with the chapter!

Ryuji walked towards the chair and sat in it. Ryuji looked at Akira with angry, but worried eyes.

"Why the hell did you do it...?!" Ryuji asked with tears forming in his eyes.

"I... I just did..." Akira replied bluntly.

"You don't just 'do' somethin' like this...!" 

"Well I did...leave it..."

Ryuji stared Akira down with an aggressive glare. Akira huffed. 

_"Calm down..."_

Akira closed his eyes and attempted to cxxalm down. Akira opened his dull eyes and looked at Ryuji.

"Never mind that... How've you...been...?" Akira asked.

Ryuji exhaled sharply. "Well, been tryna keep Yusuke from hittin' the workers here. He's stronger than he looks man...!"

Akira chuckled. "What did...he do exactly...?"

"The receptionist was tryna say that only family could visit and he and Yusuke started arguin', the guy said somethin' about stupidity and Yusuke nearly fought em...!" Ryuji explained amused at the memory. "Then that nurse came in and let us in. Hey, what were you and Yusuke talkin' about anyway?" 

"Um...just memories..." Akira replied with blush creeping up on his pale cheeks.

Ryuji raised an eyebrow. "What kind of memories? Huh?" 

Akira blushed a deep red. "J-just friendly memories...!"

Ryuji chuckled. "Dude your as red as a tomato! What memories?! Tell me!"

Akira looked unsure. "J-just our...hang out at...Inokashira Park..."

"Did ya kiss him?"

"Ryuji!"

"What? Did ya?!"

"N-no...!"

"Really?"

"Y-yes...!"

"Huh, I thought you and him had like a thing or somethin'."

"Why..?!"

"'Cause you an him are all close and shit...! Didn't he like, even tell you that you were all amazin'?"

"...Yes..."

"Dude, you should've seen him when we were forced outa here! We had to drag him out of the room!"

"Really...?"

"Yeah! Also, are Yusuke and Futaba best buds or somethin'?"

"Why..do you ask...?"

"Well, she's been able to calm him down and all that stuff. She even got after us for tryna calm him the way we usually would...!"

Akira chuckled. "Seems like...it then..."

Ryuji laughed. "Hey, I have a question,"

"Hm?"

"Who's Aria?"

"Oh...she's my sister..."

"Wait, you have a sister?!?"

"Yep..."

"Why haven't I known?!"

"Well...no one asked..."

"Well, yeah, but come on! You could've said somethin'!"

Akira chuckled. 

 

* * *

Saki was on the phone as the others were waiting impatiently.

"...Yeah alright, okay see you when you get here, bye," Saki hung up. 

Yusuke watched the nurse as she placed the phone into her pocket. Futaba and Yusuke started chatting about Akira while the others were trying to take their minds off of the situation at hand. Saki walked toward the group and grabbed their attention.

"I'm going to check on a few patients, and I'll be back in a few minutes. Do any of you need anything?" Saki asked.

They all shook their heads. Saki nodded as she walked away. After awhile of impatiently waiting, a girl with long, curly, raven hair with ocean blue tips, came running up to the reception desk. The girl looked about Akira's age and she had a hoodie on along with dark navy blue jeans, along with neon green headphones around her neck and a rainbow colored choker. The receptionist said something and then pointed toward the Thieves. The girl nodded and she approached the group looking rather nervous and worried. The girl scanned around the group and she nervously took a seat, a little far from the group; she crossed her leg over the over and she crossed her arms, looking at the floor. The group stared at her in confusion and curiosity. Saki was around the corner and she spotted the mysterious girl and speed walked toward her.

"Aria~Chan!" Saki called, grabbing the girl's attention. "Your early,"

The girl, who's name is apparently Aria, got up from her seat and hugged Saki. 

"Is he alright...?! Why is he even here...?!" Aria asked in alarm as she released the nurse.

"Calm down. Alright, Akira~Kun is being visited by one of his friends. Oh, by the way," Saki began looking at the group. "these are some of Akira~Kun's friends. Why don't you meet them while I quickly do some inventory?" 

Aria timidly looked at the confused group as she hesitantly nodded. Saki nodded approvingly as she left once more.

"Urm... H-hi..." Aria greeted avoiding eye contact. "S-so, you know Aki...?"

"'Aki'?" Futaba asked.

"O-oh, he probably won't appreciate me calling him that...!" Aria scolded herself. 

"Oh, there's no need to be shy!" Ann reassured. "By the way, I'm Ann Takamaki,"

Ann held out her hand, which Aria shook. "Nice to meet you, Takamaki~Chan. I'm Aria Kurusu,"

"Wait, Kurusu? Are you Akira's sister or somethin'?" Futaba asked. "Oh yeah. I'm Futaba Sakura,"

Aria nodded and she looked at Futaba's bag, which Morgana's head peeked out. 

"Oh, is that a kitty?" Aria asked slightly childish.

Before Morgana could escape, Futaba grabbed him and held him out to the interested teenager.

"Yup! His name's Morgana! Hey, why don't you hold him?" Futaba asked with a smirk plastered on her face.

"C-can I? I wouldn't like to over step my boundaries," Aria explained timidly.

"She really is Akira's sister," Yusuke thought aloud. "Oh, I am Yusuke Kitagawa,"

Aria looked at Yusuke and gave a micro-smile. Aria turned back toward Futaba.

"You can hold him!" Futaba reassured as she practically shoved Morgana into Aria's arms.

Aria was slightly taken aback by the action, but held Morgana carefully. Aria smiled as she scratched Morgana behind the ears, causing him to purr. Aria looked up from the feline and looked at both Haru and Makoto.

"Excuse me, but I didn't catch your guys' names," Aria informed.

"Oh, my apologies. I'm Haru Okumura,"

"I'm Makoto Niijima,"

"Nice to meet you," Aria said.

Aria was offered a seat next to Ann and she gladly accepted, Morgana was especially excited.

"S-so, how long have you all known Akira...?" Aria asked.

"Well, Ryuji, Ryuji Sakamoto, was the very first to know him, but I've known him a little after Ryuji did. Oh, Ryuji's visiting Akira right now," Ann explained. "Yusuke met him after awhile and then Makoto, then Futaba, and last, but not least, Haru,"

Aria nodded. "Um, has Akira ever mentioned home...?" 

"No, he hasn't. Why?" Makoto asked.

"J-just curious..." Aria explained as a tear fell down her cheek.

"Are you alright...?" Ann asked concerned.

"Yeah..." Aria mumbled as she wiped away her tear. "Just, emotional..."

"Understandable..." Morgana meowed.

Aria chuckled slightly. "Is Morgana's yours, Sakura~Chan?"

"No, he's Akira's," Futaba replied.

"Really? Did he take him in, or did he adopt him from a shelter?" Aria questioned.

"Akira took him in," Ann answered.

"Heh, typical Akira..." Aria murmured. "Akira always wanted to help animals, back at home. Seems that he still wants to..."

* * *

"...so yeah, basically...what my sister is like..." Akira finished explaining.

"Huh. Alright, so she's kinda like Futaba, but more formal, and is more scary and timid?" Ryuji recited.

"Yup... Well she isn't...scary, but she could be...slightly more violent...and she is timid around...new people, basically..." Akira confirmed.

Ryuji and Akira chatted for about ten minutes until a knock was heard at the door. Ryuji walked up to the door and Saki was on the other side. What the duo was saying was inaudible, but Akira assumed that Ryuji had to leave. Ryuji nodded and walked back to Akira.

"Sorry man, I gotta go..." Ryuji informed.

"Oh. Alright... bye..." Akira mumbled sadly.

"See ya..."

Ryuji exited the room and Saki entered.

"Aria~Chan's here, if you want to see her," Saki said.

Akira nodded. Saki walked out of the room, informing the teen to come and visit.

* * *

After Aria walked into the room, Saki needed to deliver a package of morphine to another hospital so she left the group. Yusuke quickly pulled out his phone and clicked on the familiar red eyeball app.

"I would like to discuss a matter with all of you..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So I hope you all enjoyed! I wish you all a great day!


	8. "The Body Guard of My Brother!" - Aria Kurusu

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Akira laughed. A real, genuine, and happy laugh. Aria laughed alongside her brother. Akira could even hear _her _laughing.__

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! So I was trying to get a few updates in and I ended up cutting this chapter short... It was actually supposed to be way more, but I was just trying to gather all of my inspiration to write and uh, yeah, here! (●´∀｀●;)  
> Also, please tell me if I made some grammar mistakes because I think I missed a bunch cause I wrote this at nighttime...woops.

"What?! No way in hell!" Ryuji shouted. "No way he has one!"

"Ryuji. Calm down, your drawing attention...!" Makoto scolded. "And we don't know for sure so there's really no need to-"

"Akira Kurusu...!" Yusuke said into the phone cutting off Makoto.

"Candidate found,"

Yusuke clenched his fists and screwed his eyes shut in distress. "I told you...! I've been noticing his odd behavior every since-" Yusuke stopped himself.

"When did you start to take notice?" Haru asked in concern. Yusuke opened his eyes that were tear filled. He sighed deeply as he set his phone onto his lap.

"Akira was acting strange every since we gathered at Leblanc around two weeks ago..." Yusuke started. "He was less chatty, he looked quite pale and I was almost certain that he was thinner than usual..." Yusuke held his breath, trying to calm his heart..

"It's okay, Yusuke. You don't have to say more than you want to," Ann reassured. Futaba stood up from her seat and moved to the seat that was next to the distressed artist. The red head placed her hand on Yusuke's shoulder to reassure him.

"It's okay, Inari..." Futaba reassured. Yusuke turned to look at the female and gave a sad smile. Everyone exchanged confused glances as Morgana peeked his small head out of the bag.

"I've noticed it too..." The feline commented, drawing everyone's attention. "He had a photo and he would stare at it almost every night until I would tell him to go to bed,"

"When don't you?" Ryuji asked, earning a jab in the ribs by Ann. "Hold up, I have a question, who was that girl that went into the room after me?"

"Oh, that was Aria-chan, she's Akira's sister," Haru replied. Ryuji nodded slowly, comprehending what he heard from both Akira and Haru.

"She doesn't look as scary as Akira said," Ryuji commented, earning a few confused stares. 

"What do you mean by that?" Yusuke asked. 

"Well, Akira said that she could be scary sometimes whenever she's alone or somethin'," Ryuji replied. Ann raised an eyebrow.

"But she was so polite and timid," The blonde commented. 

"Well, Akira said that she was kinda like Futaba, and that she is always scared around new people, but he said once she gets to know 'em she's herself or something like that." Ryuji said.

Everyone fell silent, clearly being drowned in their own thoughts. Seems that there's a lot about this girl no one knows about.

* * *

"Hey...don't cry..." 

"B-but...your here, in a hospital...!" 

Akira gave a sad look at the teenager. "This was...my fault so...please don't cry..."

Aria looked up from the ground and she had tears streaming from her eyes like a river. Aria sniffed as she wiped her tears. Akira gave a playful smirk. "Hey, where's....that tough girl I always knew....?"

Aria chuckled at that comment. "She's on a vacation for awhile," Akira gave a small chuckle.

"Oh really....? Is her friend there too...?" Akira asked earning a jab in the arm. Akira laughed.

"You were the only one who believed me..." Aria murmured with a small smile on her face. "Though, it was scary, you still were by my side the whole time..."

Akira smiled. "Of course...siblings stick together...no matter what..." Aria grabbed the male's hand and held it as her smile grew. 

"Yeah... They do, don't they?" Aria gave a sweet and kind smile. "Now, I actually kinda want to talk about your friends,"

Akira raised an eyebrow in confusion. "Hmm..?" 

"Y-yeah... They seem nice. I feel like I've seen Takamaki-san somewhere though..." Aria mumbled as she furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. 

Akira gave a small chuckle. "You probably seen her...in one of those magazines....she's a part time model..." Aria gave a shocked look at her brother.

"R-really? Wow... She was so nice to me though..." Aria commented with a shocked tone. Akira smiled at his sister's confusion. 

"Yeah...she's the nicest... She isn't like those others..." 

"That explains it,"

* * *

"But...he seemed so happy..." Makoto whispered in shock and sadness.

Yusuke gritted his teeth as Futaba tried to calm him. "Calm down, Inari..."

"He...he always would stare at that thing for hours till he would breakdown... I don't think he knows that I seen him..." Morgana finished. "I...I don't know what that picture was supposed to be, but it seemed really important and sentimental to Akira..."

"...Which gives us another reason to save him...!" Ann replied with determination, as well as tears, in her eyes. "Let's try to find out what his keywords are!"

"Yeah!" Ryuji shouted as quietly as he could do he wouldn't draw more attention. 

"Let's meet at Leblanc this evening and discuss about this, agreed?" Makoto asked. Everyone looked up with determination filling their eyes. 

"Agreed."

* * *

 

A few hours had past since Aria's visit and the others had said that they needed to leave, so that gave Aria the chance to spend more time with her brother. She practically forced the doctors to let her stay the night in the bedroom, so that gave the doctors no choice, but to let her. She sat in the wooden chair that was pulled beside the hospital bed.

"You sure you want to..spend the night in that chair...?" Akira asked as Aria removed the glass of water from his lips and setting it on the table nearby. 

"Yes. I don't wanna waste time in the morning getting dressed and wasting even more time by taking the train to get here!" Aria replied in a chuckle. Akira laughed with her. "Plus, I wanna stay watch!"

Akira sighed. "You and your protective self...." Aria nudged her brother in the arm playfully. 

"What can I say? I'm _the_ body guard of my brother!" Aria said as she pumped her fist into the air dramatically. "I shall protect you from the dust bunnies that may be roaming the air we breathe! I am bound by a contract of my mind, and that mind tells me to protect you at all cost!"

Akira laughed. A real, genuine, and happy laugh. Aria laughed alongside her brother. Akira could even hear  _her_ laughing. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you all enjoyed! I wish you all a great day!


	9. Hits and Guilt

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, shit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! So, fina-freaking-lly! This chapter was a freaking boss battle to deal with! I had a severe case of writer's block (still have it) that's why this took so damn long for this to update! I am so freaking sorry this took so long! And to make up for my absence, this chapters very long! 
> 
> And also, as you may have already guessed, this is the fic I'm focusing on mainly. So, there's that. And I might not be able to post another chapter until I dunno, June? If I'm lucky, I might post another by the end of the month, but I highly doubt it, oh enough of my rambling!
> 
> On with the story!

Everyone was in the café with full determination in their eyes. 

"Okay, so, as Yusuke had clarified, Akira has a palace..." Makoto said in solemn. Ryuji growled. 

"But that don't make any sense!" Ryuji shouted as he clenched his hair. "He ain't a bad guy, so how the hell is he distorted?"

Makoto scratched her right cheek as she averted her eyes. "Well... Ryuji..." 

Makoto then began glancing at Futaba. Ryuji's eyes widened at her hint. "No... You don't think he's like her, do you?!"

Yusuke's expression darkened, causing Futaba, and a few others, to become even more concerned. 

"If it's true... then, that just gives us another reason to save him...!" Ann said, boosting everyone's spirits. 

"Alright then, anybody have ideas on what the keywords could be?" 

Morgana hopped out of Futaba's bag and sat near Makoto's phone that was displayed on the table. "Okay, first let's talk about what we  _do_ know and then we go on from there. We already know the location is Leblanc-"

_"No Candidate Found..."_

"What?!" Ryuji yelled as his eyes widened. "You gotta be effing kidding me...!"

Makoto straightened. "Well... It is reasonable for it not to be Leblanc. Akira might've formed a palace in a different place."

Morgana nodded. "Yes, that seems the most logical explanation." Morgana's tail flicked and his eyes became focused. "Now, we need to figure out where the location is as well as a distortion."

"Well, maybe it's his hometown?" Haru suggested, hoping  _someone_ would know where Akira was from.

"But, I don't think he ever told us. Did he tell you, Ryuji?" Ann asked. Ryuji rubbed the back of his neck. 

"Nah, it never came up..." the teenager sank in his seat in shame.

"I know where he's from." All eyes were on Yusuke in shock. This was the first words he said since the hospital. 

"You do?" Futaba asked as her eyes lit up like fireworks. "Where?"

"He said he was from a small town called, 'Yasoinaba,'"he said in a monotone voice. "But he also said he moved a often, but, we could try anyway."

Makoto leaned into the phone to make sure it would hear her properly. "Yasoinaba,"

_"No Candidate Found..."_

"Dammit...!" Ryuji huffed. Yusuke sank in his seat as he felt guilt stab his heart. 

Futaba of course took note of Yusuke's action and quickly tried to comfort him by patting his shoulder and offering a small smile. Silence filled the air and no one dared to break it.

After what felt like an hour, Makoto decided to finally break the long period of silence. "Maybe we should discuss this tomorrow. It's getting late."

Yusuke opened his mouth to protest, but closed it as he noticed how late it had gotten. "...alright."

* * *

It was the next day and Akira woke up to the unfamiliar smell of hospital rags. He wrinkled his nose as he scanned his surroundings. The door was now closed, the sun's rays burst through the window, and his sister was sleeping soundly on the chair with her headphones on. His lips formed a small smile. Aria began to stir.

"Aki.....?" She mumbled as she rubbed her eyes. "What time is it...?"

Akira looked at the clock. "It's nine, sleepyhead." 

Aria groaned. "Why did I wake up so early....?" 

"Maybe because I did,"

"Of course...."

Akira chuckled. Aria smiled. "Sleep well...?" 

Aria stretched. "Yeah... I've been having trouble sleeping lately so any sleeping hours near five are great in my book..."

Akira frowned. "Five...?"

"Yeah, but I'm doing fine. I promise." Aria smiled, trying to make Akira's worries disappear. Akira sighed as he tried to shift into a comfortable position. He winced and he stopped moving. "You okay....?"

"Yeah... just kinda hurts to move that's all." Akira hadn't realized he was squinting his eyes until he noticed that he couldn't see the entire room. Aria hummed, studying her brother.

"Hey..." she mumbled, grabbing her brother's attention. "Why... are you here?"

* * *

Everyone was on the train coming to Leblanc. Yusuke managed to grab a seat, which was great because he didn't feel comfortable being squished in with strangers, and he decided to pass the time by scrolling through his phone and possibly find out what the keywords were.

He began scrolling through his past messages with Akira.

_**Akira:** I freaking swear Morgana's trying to suffocate me! _

**_Akira:_ ** _And he's doing a pretty good job._

 **_Yusuke:_ ** _Is there a possible reason for this?_

 **_Akira:_ ** _Yes. He decided to lay on top of me as I sleep! I think I should cut down his sushi._

 **_Yusuke:_ ** _Wait, sleep? It is 6:3_ _0._

 **_Akira:_ ** _Morgana's really strict on my sleeping schedule._

Yusuke smiled and scrolled upwards.

_**Akira:** I have a question._

**_Yusuke:_ ** _Yes?_

 **_Akira:_ ** _Why is it that dogs and cats don't get along very well?_

 **_Yusuke:_ ** _You are asking me why?_

 **_Akira:_ ** _Because if I asked the others I'll surely never heard the end of it._

 **_Akira:_ ** _And 'cause I trust your answer more than anyone else's in the group._

Yusuke's smile faded as he then turned his phone off. 

"You apparently didn't trust me enough..."

* * *

"Aria...! I'm sorry, I didn't-! I wasn't-!"

"You weren't what, Akira?!" Aria clenched her fists as warm tears streamed down her face. "You weren't thinking? Didn't think that I wouldn't notice that damn scar when you came home with us?!" 

Akira clenched his teeth, trying to restrain the tears that stung at the back of his dull eyes. "I... I didn't..."

"You know how I fucking feel about that!!"

Akira wasn't dealing with a furious Aria anymore. 

Yes, the anger was still in her, but she seemed broken, like he was. Anyone in the family could tell when Aria was angry. She always cursed and would yell.

"Aria...! I didn't think that it would've...!"

"Dammit, Akira, do you know how many fucking hospital trips you've had?! 'Cause I do! This is _your_ _nine_ _teenth_ trip that involved a knife or some shit!!" Aria didn't care if she was making a scene. She stood up from the chair and she clenched her curly locks and kept her head down as she paced around the room. "Hell, I don't even know if you've been here during your probation!"

"Ari..." Akira couldn't do more than whisper as the tears escaped. "I-I didn't mean to... I didn't...!"

"You know how sensitive I am about self-harm! Yuki nearly-!" Aria stopped herself and buried her face in her hands until she had decided on something. "I'm sorry... I need some space right now...!" 

She quickly grabbed her belongings and left the room without another word. Akira tried to call after her, but the door had closed...

\- - -

Aria sniffed as she sprinted past the other doctors and nurses. She turned a corner and was almost to the exit.

"Aria-chan?" 

Aria turned to see her aunt concerned and worried. Saki quickly acknowledged Aria's tears and walked towards her. "What happened?"

Aria wiped her eyes. "I just need some space right now... I'm gonna go home..." Aria quickly sprinted away from her aunt and exited the hospital. 

She quickly grabbed her headphones and put them on, about to blast her music. She reached for her hood and pulled it over her wild hair. She grabbed her phone and unlocked it, but found something peculiar as she swiped through her apps.

"H-huh...?" she mumbled as she sniffed again. "I don't..."

She furrowed her eyebrows as she was about to delete the creepy red and black eyeball app that appeared on her phone. She shook her head and continued to search for her music.

* * *

Everyone was gathered at Leblanc with absolute no patience, or at least Yusuke didn't have any. Yusuke's phone was on the table with the MetaNav open.

"Okay, any suggestions for the keywords?" Yusuke had asked straight away. An uncomfortable silence filled the air. Futaba hummed, causing a few eyes to stare at her expectantly.

"....I got nothing..." Futaba mumbled sadly. She lowered her head in disappointment. "Sorry...."

"It's alright, Futaba-chan..." Haru reassured with a weak smile. Yusuke looked down at the floor and thought long and hard.

"Wait a minute," Yusuke quickly jumped from his seat and grabbed his jacket. Everyone watched in confusion. 

"Where are you going, Yusuke?" Ann asked as Yusuke adjusted his jacket. 

"I have an idea, but I'll need to see Akira to make sure I can give along with this. I'll be back shortly," 

When the others were about to protest, Futaba quickly stepped in. "N-no, let Inari go. If he has a plan to help figure out t-the keywords, then let him..." Futaba looked at the grinning Yusuke and nodded. Yusuke walked down the stairs, exited the café, and began walking to the station.

* * *

Aria was sitting on the ground in an alleyway with her face buried in her hands while her music blasted in her ears. She lifted her head from her hands and tears fell from her eyes. She began hitting her kneecap as she cursed herself for how she acted towards Akira.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid...!" Aria chanted as she fiddled with her choker that seemed to get tighter and tighter. A sudden wind washed over the teen, causing her wild hair to cover some of her face and clothes. The girl turned her head to where the wind came from with her eyebrows knitted together. A scoff escaped her lips. "If one of you are here to talk I'm not in the mood, okay...?"

Her headphones suddenly jolted off her ears and hung from her multicolored hair. She sighed sharply as she grabbed her headphones and pried them from the wild locks. "I told you, I'm not in the fucking mood..."

Aria fixed the cords of the headphones as the wind came again. She suddenly threw the headphones at the side of the wall in frustration and said to the air, "Leave me alone...!"

An eerie ringing noise blasted her ears. She grunted in pain as she covered her ears. 

_"Worthless!"_

_"Pathetic!"_

_"You're not worth saving!"_

_"I can't believe you're still calling him your brother!"_

_"You can't do anything right!"_

_"Just die already!"_

"No... I won't...." Aria whimpered as she felt tears slide down her face. "I... Can't... He... needs me..."

* * *

"Akira-kun? May I come in?" Saki asked through the small crack in the open door. 

"Do I have a choice?" Akira asked bitterly. He sighed deeply. "Yeah..."

The door opened and closed and Saki walked in. Akira didn't look up from his bandaged wrist. Why _did_ he do it? 

"Um, well, Aria-chan left and I was wondering if something might've happened..." 

Akira clenched the blankets as hard as his body would allow. "...I'm sorry... I-I... I didn't know she would act this way if I told her..."

"Ah..." Saki sighed, processing what might've happened. "Yeah... I would've told her, but I figured she should probably hear it from you. I'm sorry she reacted that way..."

Akira finally looked up and his eyes were less dull. A small smile formed on his lips. Saki returned the smile. "Oh, yeah, you're friend called and they said they were going to visit. Is that alright with you, or do you want me to tell them to visit another time?"

Akira's heart skipped a beat as he prayed for it to be Yusuke. "U-uh.. No, it's fine. Who is it?"

Saki smirked. "It's that Yusuke kid you keep blushing around. Gosh, can you be any more obvious?" 

Akira blushed as a sheepish grin formed. Saki chuckled. "I have to leave, kiddo. I have to fill in for another nurse so I won't be here for about three to five hours."

Akira nodded, his blush slowly dissolving. Saki gave a quick nod and walked out the door and left Akira alone in the room. His once smiley face turned into a solemn one. 

"I'm so stupid..." he whispered to himself as he replayed his conversation with his sister. Her expression... Her pain... 

An eerie ringing noise filled the silent room and Akira quickly covered his ears, ignoring the pain it caused for his -- possibly open -- scars. 

_"She's so fucking worthless, how do you call her your sister?"_

_"You criminal!"_

_"It's all your fault!"_

_"Your best friend's dead, your sister is a worthless whore, and you're a criminal!"_

"No...! No...! That's not true! Get out of my head!" Akira screamed. The noise suddenly stopped and was replaced with the beeping of the heart monitor -- which was slowing a bit. His breathing was rapid and he stared at the blankets with wide eyes while his hands were slowly removed from his ears. 

_"Calm down... Calm down..."_

In... Out... In... Out...

"Yusuke's going to visit me... I am going to be fine the entire time... The entire time..." 

* * *

Futaba typed away on her computer in silence while the others talked about Akira's condition. She narrowed her eyes as she tried to hack into Akira's phone -- and maybe Yusuke's if she has time -- while Morgana paced around Akira's desk which she was using. With one final press of a button, Futaba was met with a loading screen that -- if it completed -- would take her to Akira's messages, phone calls, research history, etc.  

"Come on... Come on..." she whispered anxiously. The data was so close to completion. 

86%

93%

99%

100%

"I'm in!" she exclaimed, interrupting the conversations and Morgana's pacing. Everyone peered over her shoulder as she went to his messages to see if anything unusual was there. For precautions and to see if it would help them with the keywords.

She checked his most recent messages -- which would appear on top of the list -- with her eyebrows furrowed and her glasses sliding slightly down her nose. 

**_[Recent]_ **

_Yusuke Kitagawa_

_Yusuke Kitagawa_

_Yusuke Kitagawa_

_Yusuke Kitagawa_

_Yusuke Kitagawa_

_Yusuke Kitagawa_

_Yusuke Kitagawa_

_Yusuke Kitagawa_

_Ryuji Sakamoto_

_Yusuke Kitagawa_

_Futaba Sakura_

_Yusuke Kitagawa_

"I knew it there was something there..." Futaba mumbled, which was inaudible to the others. "There's nothing in messages. I'll check his calls,"

She flipped to the phone app and saw his recent calls. Or at least as recent as last week.

_**[Recent]** _

_Yusuke Kitagawa_

_Yusuke Kitagawa_

_Ryuji Sakamoto_

_Yusuke Kitagawa_

_Ryuji Sakamoto_

_Makoto Niijima_

_Unknown Number_

_Unknown Number_

"Here," she said, drawing the others' attention again. "There's an unknown number that called Akira about a week ago if not a few days. I'll try to find the conversation recording."

"You could do that?" Ann asked in surprise. Futaba smiled cheekily as she gave a mischievous chuckle. 

"There's a lot I could do with my hacking abilities!" 

"You can be scary sometimes..." 

"Hehehe..."

* * *

"Third door to the left,"

"Thank you,"

Yusuke slightly bowed his head before he power walked to Akira's hospital room. It of course didn't take more than thirty seconds for the bluenette to arrive there, but it still took time and Yusuke felt like he didn't have any to spare. The door was closed so Yusuke carefully knocked on the wood, hoping Akira would say something.

A muffled 'come in' was heard. Yusuke gave a relived sigh before he opened the door and saw his most dearest friend. Akira looked better. His eyes had more of it light back, his skin seemed to have color again, and his hair had its shine back. Not that Yusuke stared at him long enough to notice these, oh no certainly not. 

"Hey, Yusuke..." Akira greeted with a small smile. Yusuke could only return a sad smile. It's very hard seeing him like this knowing he's in pain...

"Hello again, Akira. I am very glad you are talking more." Yusuke said casually as he walked to the empty chair. He took a seat and stared at his crush who smiled.

"Yeah, a good night's rest help a lot," Akira responded. Yusuke chuckled. "So, what brings you here?"

Yusuke's heart skipped a beat. Did Akira really ask that? "Well, to see you of course!" Yusuke replied with a slightly forced smile. "I wanted to make sure that you were alright and since I'm the only one here, we could talk more,"

A pretty rose blush spread across Akira's cheeks and he quickly averted his eyes to his blankets. "O-oh, right."

Yusuke gave a breathless chuckle. He looked around the room for a second and asked, "Did your sister leave?"

Akira's eyes saddened, but then flashed to an emotionless stare. "Uh, yeah, she had to go home to study for her online classes." 

Yusuke slowly nodded, comprehending this obvious lie. "Hmm, I see. Well, I suppose that would give us more time to talk,"

Akira smiled and the emotionless stare was replaced with a happy and releived one. "Yeah, I guess it does."

* * *

Aria was now walking to a local café to get some coffee after the rough day she had. She of course had never been there before so she had to use her phone as a map. Café Leblanc was just up ahead and Aria exited the map app and saw that peculiar red eyeball apo that appeared about three hours ago. 

"I thought I deleted this..." she murmured as she stared at the app. "I hope I don't have a virus or something..."

She dragged the odd app into the trash and deleted it once more and continued her walk to Leblanc. Aria was in front of the café and she stared at the building's structure for awhile. She opened the door and inhaled the sweet and calming scent of freshly brewed coffee. A small smile formed on her lips as she moved some of her hair under her hoodie. 

The café had a calm atmosphere to it and it wasn't crowded like Aria thought it would be. There was an elderly couple sitting at a booth talking and there was a few voices from upstairs. 

"Hello, miss, what can I do for you?" a voice said. Startled, Aria turned her head to where the voice came from and saw a man in an apron. Possibly a worker or the owner. 

"U-um, I would like a coffee please..." she said in a calm tone. She kept her head down as she walked to the barstool, not wanting to draw any attention. 

"Alright," 

Aria sat there with her arms on the countertop in silence. The elderly couple was talking about their lives and the TV was broadcasting a news report on the recent activity in Tokyo. She stared at her hands, mostly her wrists, and she bit her lip in regret. 

She shouldn't have went off on her brother... She felt so stupid on how she yelled. Her brother has gone through enough already and her screaming at him probably made it worst. What kind of sister is she?

Her coffee was presented to her and she took sips every minute as she thought about her brother's condition.

"Sojiro! I need three coffees and two iced teas, stat!" a familiar voice ordered, causing Aria's attention to flicker towards the person. There was a ginger haired girl in a green parka, shorts, and knee-high boots.

"Alright, but don't yell inside, 'kay?" the man, who's apparently named Sojiro, said. 

"Okay, okay."

''Sakura-chan?" Aria thought aloud. Futaba looked at Aria and her face brightened.

"Oh, hi, Aria! What're you doing here?" Futaba asked as she sat next to the sulking female immediately. 

"Oh, I'm just here for coffee," Aria replied, glancing at her half empty cup of sweetened coffee. "What're you doing here?"

Futaba chuckled. "I'm here on a special mission with the others...!" Aria raised an eyebrow and gave a small chuckle.

"Oh really? Is it a top secret type of mission?" the ravenette asked in a sarcastic yet playful tone. Futaba smiled cheekily and nodded. "Well, I hope it goes well..."

"Here are the drinks, Futaba." Sojiro said, puting five cups of liquid on the countertop. Futaba thanked him and had one in each hand. She gave a thoughtful 'uh' and tried to pick a third with her pinky. 

"Oh, here, let me help you, Sakura-chan." Aria said, grabbing the three glasses. Two in each hand and one was being held securely with her forearm. 

"Oh, thanks!" Futaba thanked and walked to the stairs with Aria following. Aria walked carefully up the stairs and saw all of Akira's friends huddled around a desk and a futon. "Hey, guys! I brought the drinks and look who I found,"

"Aria-chan? What're you doing here?" Ann asked with a smile as she took the two cups from Futaba. Aria walked to the table in the middle of the attic and placed the cups on the surface.

"Oh, just here for coffee..." she said bluntly. "Um, Sakura-chan needed some help with carrying the beverages s-so I helped her with these ones... Sorry, if I interrupted something."

"Oh no it's alright! You're not interrupting anything," Makoto reassured. 

Aria gave a relived smile and glanced around the room. "Well, I'll get out of your hair..." Aria turned around and began walking towards the stairs before she turned her head to Futaba's direction. "I hope your mission goes smoothly, Sakura-chan.."

"Thanks, and, um, you can call me Futaba if you'd like." the teenager added. Aria's eyes widened a bit before she smiled.

"Sure thing, Futaba,"

* * *

"Uh, what?" Akira asked. 

"Well, I never did hear about where you came from and I would like to learn more about you. Is that alright? I wouldn't want to overstep my boundaries," Yusuke explained, silently praying that Akira would open up.

"Oh, of course. Well, uh, I was born in a town called Yasoinaba -- my family moved a lot so we never really stayed in one place -- I spent three years in Yokohama, moved to Kiso and spent two years there, spent four years in Osaka, and then my family finally decided to stay in Kobe..." Akira finished, out of breath. "Yeah... So, my parents live there and I spent most of my years there..."

Yusuke nodded. His plan just might work. "Did you like living in Kobe?" 

"Yeah, it was heaven there...!" Akira chuckled, a tad nervous. Yusuke smiled, pleased with that answer. 

Yusuke pulled out his phone and began messaging Futaba. 

 **Yusuke:** Try Akira Kurusu, Kobe, Hell.

Yusuke stuffed his phone in his pocket and gave a quick excuse that he needed to respond to a message that was over due. Akira bought it. 

"So, I actually wanted to ask you something..." Akira said looking at his wrist. Yusuke hummed in confusion. "Um, yesterday, before you had to leave, you were about to say something. What was it?"

Well, shit.

Yusuke straightened and tried to come up with an excuse. "I was about to ask you if maybe sometime we could go back to Inokashira Park again since I know how much you love the blossoms there. When you get out of the hospital..." 

Akira gave a small 'oh' and a look came across his eyes, did Yusuke dare to call it sadness and disappointment? A smile formed. "Yeah, of course. I always have fun there with you."

Yusuke smiled as well. "I'm glad to hear that."

Yusuke's phone suddenly chimed. Yusuke pulled out his phone and saw that he had a message from Futaba.

 **Futaba:** Whatever plan you had worked!

 **Futaba:** It worked, we got a hit. And you'll want to see this...

Yusuke suddenly felt his stomach drop. He had a bad feeling about this.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you enjoyed! I wish you all a great day!


	10. Palace Ruler's Love

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Out of breath, Yusuke pulled away, but didn't recapture Akira's lips and instead let his head fall onto Akira's rising and deflating chest breathing heavily. "I'm sorry..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was rushed I am so sorry! ╮(╯▽╰)╭
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> P.S I suck at confession scenes so any criticism is appreciated and welcome in the comments! I should honestly delete this chapter cause of how bad it is... I'M STILL FREAKING SHOOK THAT THIS HAS BOOKMARKS!
> 
> P.P.S I added more to the confession scene for those who already read this chapter.

Futaba sat on the desk chair, knees to chest, eyes wide, and her heart was hammering against her chest. Akira's palace was nothing like she imagined it to be. 

Yes, she expected it to be bad, but that was far beyondjust a simple bad. That was  _terrifying..._

"S-so... let's wait for Yusuke to arrive and then we... We could go back and scope our the palace..." Makoto suggested, panic in her voice. Everyone else was shaken up as well. Futaba was the worst though. She nearly collapsed on that lava floor and she was almost completely absorbed in the voices that echoed through the palace. 

The voices seemed like they were taunting the girl. It felt like they only gathered around her and nobody else even though they obviously had. Futaba stared at her shaky legs and tried to calm down so she could help. 

"Please hurry, Inari..." 

* * *

Yusuke was still sitting in the chair alongside Akira. While his tone of voice said otherwise, he was extremely worried. Akira was a good liar. Yusuke hadn't noticed before -- possibly because he hadn't realized about his suffering until a few days ago -- but now he knows just how much of a faker his crush really is. But why?

"Akira..." he began, looking at the floor. Akira turned his head to look at the bluenette. 

"Yeah?"

"...why do you not trust me?" Yusuke asked, immediately regretting it. Why did he ask that? Out of all the things he could've said, he picks that one!

"W-what do you mean? I trust you...!" Akira stammered nervously. Yusuke lifted his head and furrowed his eyebrows in frustration. 

"Please, stop with the lying Akira..." he said bluntly. "For once... Please... Stop."

Akira visibly sunk into the pillow that his head and shoulders were laying on. Yusuke felt something inside him snap in two. He stood from his seat and hovered over Akira, eyes burning with anger. "Why must you lie about everything? Do you not trust us-... do you not trust  _me_?" 

Akira felt his body shake as he swallowed hard, attempting to swallow his heart back into his chest. "I-I-I-I-I-... I trust you, I always have!"

"Then why don't you speak the truth??" 

"I do!"

Yusuke scoffed. "Do not take me for a fool, Akira. I may have been blind to your true feelings back then, but now that I have seen what is truly under that carefree facade. I know _damn_ well you have never spoken the truth these past few months!"

Akira hadn't noticed that he was hyperventilating. "I'm... I'm sor.... I'm sorry.... I'm sorry..."

Yusuke shook his head as he stepped away from the bed slightly. "Stop with the apologizing. Not everything is your fault! When are you going to realize that?" Yusuke then placed his hands on Akira's shoulders and leaned in, their faces only inches apart. "Akira... You can't go on like this... We all are here for you, _I'm_ here for you... Please, just open up...!"

Akira screwed his eyes shut, but that didn't stop the tears from flowing. Yusuke tried his best to stand his ground as he slowly brought his hands to his friend's cheeks and wiped the waterfall of lukewarm tears.

"I'm trying... I'm trying so hard...." the raven whimpered as Yusuke caressed his soft cheeks. "I just.... I just can't do it.... I'm not like everyone...! I can't just open up whenever something happens...! I have to be strong, but I can't...." he trailed off. Yusuke held Akira's face in his wet hands. 

How blind was Yusuke? "Akira... I know how hard it is to open up to someone, but you simply  cannot bottle all of your emotions like this..." Akira opened his eyes and sniffed. Yusuke brought one of his hands up to Akira's forehead and brushed away his raven bangs to reveal his crush's beautiful eyes. 

"I..." Yusuke but his lip, trying to restrain from confessing. What if he messes up his friendship with Akira and he doesn't like him back? But... Akira is suffering. He needs to show how much he cares for him. 

"I... I like you, Akira...!" he blurted out, closing his eyes; not wanting to see the disgust and disappointment in his crush's eyes. Oh, did he want to kiss Akira right now. He wanted to be with him so badly.

Screw it.

Yusuke opened his eyes to see what he was doing. He cupped Akira's face and crashed his lips with Akira's, soon screwing his eyes shut. The kiss was warm and soft. Yusuke then forced himself to pull away. "I-... I always have. I care too much about you to let you do this to yourself!"

Yusuke took a risk and didn't move away from his crush as he waited for a rejection. Akira stared wide-eyed at the artist. "I... understand if you do not reciprocate my feelings, but I needed to-" 

Much to his surprise, Yusuke was interrupted by someone's lips pressing against his. Akira was kissing him. Actually kissing him! Yusuke soon closed his eyes and returned the kiss. The kiss ended when Akira suddenly pulled back, much too fast for Yusuke. 

A smile formed on both of their teary faces and their lips met once more. Yusuke brought his hands to Akira's neck, pulling him closer and kissed him while deepening the kiss. The bluenette brushed his lips against Akira's as he leaned closer in, nearly his entire body hovering over his lover's. They pulled away for air and then recapturing the other's lips. 

It was simply opening and closing their mouths and no lengthy pause. Akira then managed to find the strength to bring his hand up to Yusuke's shoulder and squeezed it. The blue haired boy didn't realize it at first, but the heart monitor was beeping rapidly, but in a steady pattern at the same time. He knows that his heart is definitely beating fast. Yusuke felt the tip of Akira's tongue brush against Yusuke's lips requesting access which Yusuke gladly gave. 

It soon turned from simple long kisses to message of tongues. Yusuke opened his eyes to slits as his cheeks were on fire. The blushing boy closed his eyes as his hand somehow was tangled in Akira's raven hair while his other hand was laying on the raven's chest — which he felt his rapid heart beat. Yusuke slowly and carefully untangled his hand from his lover's hair and soon was holding his neck once more.

Out of breath, Yusuke pulled away, but didn't recapture Akira's lips and instead let his head fall onto Akira's rising and deflating chest breathing heavily. "I'm sorry..." 

"F-... for what...?" Akira asked cautiously. Yusuke lifted his head from his lover's chest and sucked in a breath as he stared into Akira's gorgeous eyes.

"...I have to go soon. And... I acted impulsively because I needed to tell you how I felt.... I apologize for that..." Yusuke explained, ashamed of himself. Akira simply gave a sad smile.

"It's okay, Yusuke.... I also acted rather impulsively... But I'm glad that this happened. I... really like you, Yusuke... And I-I'm sorry I never told the truth often..." Akira confessed. Yusuke released his breath and slowly leaned in for another tender kiss. He pulled back and his nose was lightly touching Akira's.

"It's alright... I should be the one to apologize for yelling at you..." Akira laughed breathlessly and slowly brought his non-injured hand to Yusuke's neck and connected his forehead with his. 

"It's okay, I will learn to be more open..." 

Yusuke could only smile sadly.  _I hope you're telling the truth this time..._

Yusuke pecked Akira's lips before he completely pulled away, standing on the floor once more. He saw Akira's arm hesitantly lie on the bed again as Yusuke finger combed his blue hair.

"I apologize, but I believe I must go. I have an important painting to finish and I am afraid I might run out of time," Yusuke quickly grabbed his jacket and put it on. "But once I finish I promise I'll come back." 

"Okay," Akira mumbled as Yusuke quickly kissed the top of his forehead. 

"I'll see you soon, Akira..." 

And with that, Yusuke left. He shut the door behind him and sped walked out of the hospital. He has to get to Leblanc quickly. The faster he and the team go through the palace, the faster they'll find the treasure.

The teenager slowed and touched his warm lips and smiled giddily. Yusuke still can't believe he kissed his crush. Who kissed him back! A small giddy chuckle escaped Yusuke as he began sprinting towards the station.

* * *

Futaba was waiting impatiently for Yusuke to arrive when her phone chimed. Everyone jumped from the sudden noise as she opened the notification.

**Yusuke:** I apologize for the wait, but I am rather delayed at the moment. Please, don't wait for me and enter the palace. I'll be there later and I'll go in once I get there.

**Yusuke:** Also, just take turns being leader. Don't waste five minutes deciding who is going to be the substitute for Akira. I vote that Makoto should be the leader for today, but you may decide that for yourselves.

"Inari wants us to go into the palace," Futaba reported as she shut her phone off. "He says he's gonna go in when he gets here and not to wait for him and just to go in. And he says not to argue about who's going to be the substitute leader and just take turns each day. He says that Queen should be the leader for today, but we can change that if we want." 

"Me?" Makoto asked, confused and flattered at the same time. Haru smiled brightly.

"I think you'll do great, Mako-chan! I agree with Yusuke-kun, we should take turns each day." Ryuji nodded, comprehending what Yusuke suggested.

"Yeah, I like that. So, we gonna go into the palace?" Morgana hopped onto the tabletop and sat down. 

"That depends if we're all ready. When we just received one glimpse we all nearly collapsed from all of the voices and the air..." Morgana's ears pinned to his head as he slouched(?). 

"...we'll have to try to adapt. Because this is Akira we are trying to save and I already know that we will not stop at anything...!" Makoto riled up. Soon, everyone was standing triumphantly and proudly. 

"Yeah! We ain't gonna let him suffer more!" Ryuji announced. Everyone nodded and soon Futaba warned that she was activating the MetaNav.

* * *

Queen's senses slowly came to as she had already gotten used to the odd feelings she would receive whenever they entered and exited the Metaverse. 

"Is everyone- ah!" Queen immediately held her head and screwed her eyes shut as warm tears stung her eyes. 

_"This is all of your fault, Akira! She's gone! **Gone**!"_

_"Yuki's dead!"_

_"I can't believe they allow a murderer to go here!"_

_"You seriously call those two whores family?"_

"What... Is this...?!" Queen whimpered through gritted teeth. She opened her eyes to a small slit and saw her teammates mimicking her actions. Oracle collapsed on the ground as she violently shook and clenched her head. The brunette could tell that everyone was hyperventilating — as well as her — as she tried to find a way to adapt to the voices mentally.

"ENOUGH!!" 

Suddenly, the voices quieted and Queen immediately was able to block them out. She looked around her and figured out that Oracle was the one who screamed. She sat there with wide eyes and she slowly released her ginger hair and stared at Queen. Queen releases a breath she didn't realize she was holding and quickly looked over her teammates. They seemed to be in the same position. 

Panther was looking around her frantically with Mona and Noir was trying their best to calm her while Skull was nervously gripping his pipe as he ran his fingers through his bleached hair. Wait, fingers?

Queen then looked over each person individually.

Panther was not in her latex suit, but was in her tank-top with her sunglasses hanging from the middle of the neck line and she was wearing her shorts with her plaid jacket wrapped around her waist.

Noir was wearing her blue dress that covered most of her neck and she wore her white tights with her pink heels instead of her thief outfit.

Skull wasn't wearing his thief outfit either. He was wearing his yellow tank-top with footprints on it and his pants pulled up to his knees with his sneakers. 

Queen looked over to the confused Oracle and looked her over. She wasn't in her neon green and black suit, but was in her green parka, her black leggings, and her knee-high boots. 

Mona was the only one in their Metaverse form. Queen eventually looked herself over. She quickly felt for her mask and then moved to her legs and arms and then her shoulders to feel for her spikes. She wasn't in her outfit. 

"Guys," Queen said. Everyone turned to her with their confused yet releived expressions on their faces. "We aren't in our Metaverse outfits." The team then began to look themselves over. "Well, except you, Mona..."

"Figured...." the feline said solemnly. He soon snapped out of his glum faze and straightened. "Alright, first thing's first, what just happened?"

"W-well... I just screamed and then the voices left..." Oracle muttered as she crossed her arms. "Was that your question?"

Mona nodded. "Okay, now," he turned around and scanned the area in front of him. "Let's talk about  _this_."

Queen heard gasps of shock fill her ears as she turned to see the most unbelievable thing she could imagine. There was a huge gateway made with — what looked like — lava rocks and ash. It had the message, 

**NO ESCAPE**

engraved in the rubble mess.

Though the gateway was large and took up more space than an apartment, Queen could see past it sunken buildings that were almost completely engulfed in flames from the lava that was spread across the floor. There was a massive obsidian building that was in the distance. It had live fire patterns that visibly moved everywhere on the sides and maybe the top of the building.

That must be where the treasure was located.

"Holy shit..." Skull cursed under his breath as he gawked at his surroundings. "This..."

Queen hung her head and stared at the lava rock floor in solemn. "...is what he sees Kobe as..." 

* * *

It had been about an hour since Yusuke had left Akira's hospital room and yet he can still feel his presence and his lips to his. Akira had been grinning giddily ever since he kissed the other boy. Was that even real? Akira's grin twitched as he began to think harder about what the hell happened. 

He was surely about to wake up any second now. Yusuke....can't feel the same way. He just can't. No way someone as amazing, talented, and beautiful- no,  _gorgeous_ as Yusuke is. No way in hell...

Akira slouched in his bed as he let his insecurities consume his self-confidence.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ooooooookay.... So, CocoQueen(as well as others), I know I promised no more cliffhangers, but does this really count as a cliffhanger???
> 
> *chuckles nervously*


	11. Instincts Tell All

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Akira! Wake up! Wake up!" Aria begged and begged until hands grabbed her shoulders, pulling her from the bed. She struggled against the person and in the corners of her eye, she saw few other doctors as she shook Akira more violently. "Please! Wake up!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> finally! New chapter! And also I just want to quickly say thank you so fucking much for the comments on this and the ones on my others! All of them help me and I know I don't thank you all enough and I apologize for that! I know that all of the other authors have thanked their readers and told them about how they keep them motivated and better at this, but here's another one of those thank-yous! 
> 
> Even the ones that seem a tad negative are greatly appreciated! I love you all so much and I am so happy that you all have enjoyed the trash i wrote and am currently writing!
> 
> Now, enough of my mushy crap, on with the chapter! <3

As her tears slowly fell, Aria walked to her and her aunt's apartment while she kept glancing around her to check what was going on. 

"Leave me alone!" Aria slowed as she turned her head to see where the voice came from. It seemingly belonged to a little girl. 

"Suddup dummy!" Another voice, belonging to another girl. Aria stopped walking and was now on a search for the two girls. Her gaze soon found two little girls — maybe six or seven — fighting over a decorative box.

"It's my sissy's! She trusted it with me, now leave me alone, Yoko-chan!" Aria raised an eyebrow as she studied what was going on. The little girl had her waist-length midnight hair in two braids and she was in a large baggy hoodie while the other had her red hair in a tight bun and she was in a long sleeved blue sweater with black leggings.

"I don't care if it belongs to your sister!Just gimme the box already, Yan-chan!" Aria quickly approached the two girls when the redhead — who was called Yoko-chan — began to get physical. 

"Excuse me," the raven began, the two looking up at her. "I couldn't help, but overhear you two and I wanted to know what is causing such a fuss."

The adorable blackette pulled the wooden box out of the redhead's hands and held the box to her chest in a protective manner. "Yoko-chan is trying to take my sissy's box and she won't leave me alone!" 

"Well you owe me! So I think it's fair for you to hand over that dumb box!" Aria frowned at the girl.

"Is it really fair?"

"Yeah,"

"I don't think it is," Aria now caught their full attention. "You see, even if they owe you something it doesn't make it right to take something that is very sentimental to them. Especially if it doesn't belong to them in the first place." 

Aria looked at the redhead. "Would you appreciate it if she," Aria looked at the girl — who's apparently Yan-chan — and then back at Yoko-chan. "decided that something of yours was hers?"

Yoko-chan crossed her arms and averted her brown eyes. "...no."

"Then is it  _really_ fair that you're claiming the box?" Yoko-chan sighed deeply and shook her head. The raven saw Yan-chan light up as she relaxed. "Would you like to apologize to this little girl now?"

Yoko-chan slowly looked over to the other girl and then turned to face her. "I'm sorry, Yan-chan... Please forgive me..."

Yan-chan smiled brightly. "I forgive you, Yoko-chan!" the little girl turned to Aria and gave her a warm hug. Aria was taken back by the sudden gesture, but smiled and hugged the child back. "Thank you miss for helping!"

"No problem, kid." Yan-chan released Aria and turned to Yoko-chan. 

"C'mon, let's go find my mom and ask for ice cream!" and with that, the two little girls ran off to who knows where. Aria smiled sadly as she watched the two disappear from view.

She remembers when she, Yuki, and Akira were like that...

* * *

The team hadn't made much progress in Akira's palace. They were still outside the gate and had no idea how to get pass the large gateway. None of them were able to even move it an inch. They tried to break it, tried to climb it — did not go well, and they even tried to take it off its hinges.

Skull growled and connected his booty with the gate in frustration. "Dammit! Just open already!"

"Calm down," Queen warned as she brushed a piece of her brown hair away from her face. "You might alert Shadows."

"At least then we might get somewhere!" Skull retorted as she gripped his pipe. Queen furrowed her eyebrows at him. "I'm sorry, I just... This is so effing frustrating! Akira's been lyin' about this shit for how long and when we finally get to help we can't even get past one  _fucking_ gate!" Even through the dark atmosphere, everyone could see that in Skull's eyes there was this murderous glint in his brown eyes. "I'm so sick and tired of this  _bullshit_!!"

Skull then swung his weapon to the gate. A deafening echo loomed through the palace as the angered teenager huffed as he tried to keep his grip on his pipe. The gate suddenly opened to a small slit, only allowing a finger to trespass. When the group was about to comment, metal morphed into the crack and sealed it shut once more.

"The hell...?" the boy mumbled as he walked closer to the gate to examine the new metal mold. He suddenly scoffed as he took the hint. "Figures."

"What?" Panther questioned. Skull turned around and scowled. 

"Figures this metal crap comes in and seals it when it opens. Akira's like a freaking safe I swear!" Mona crossed his arms and shifted his weight onto his other leg. 

"And this mold happened because...?" 

"This stuff sealed the damn gate because Akira doesn't want no one to come in that's why!" 

A sinister chuckle echoed and filled everyone's ears. Everyone jumped and looked around them frantically. 

_"Very nice, Skull. I honestly expected you to guess much sooner, but whatever speed works for you..."_

"I know that voice anywhere..." Queen mused. "Akira, where are you?"

Another chuckle came and a shadow zoomed in the corner of everyone's eyes.  _"Oh, wanna know where I am? Where's the fun in just telling you, eh?"_ Queen felt her patience shorten.

"We're here to help you, but we can't do that if you don't help us."

_"Me help you and you help me? Don't make me laugh, Queen!"_

"We just want to help!" Panther chimed in. 

_"Sure you do. Here, if you think you can save him, be my fucking guest. I'll make it easier for you, one of you already entered a place in his heart so might as well open the entrance for all of you..."_

A deafening creak was heard and echoed through the entire palace. Everyone looked at the gate and saw that it was now open. 

"'Already entered a place in his heart'? What does that mean?" Panther questioned as she twirled a piece of her blonde hair. "Did one of us do something?"

Oracle sighed deeply and drew almost everyone's attention. "I think I know who he's talking about."

"Who?" Noir asked curiously. 

"It's not my place to really talk about this stuff. It's Joker's. But I think what we should be talking about here is what the hell we are going to do now that the gate's open." Oracle said as she clasped her hands behind her.

"Right." Queen mumbled. "Shall we proceed forward?" 

Everyone reluctantly nodded. The brunette walked forward past the gate and suddenly felt a wave of energy course through her and she felt a familiar light weight upon her face. She brought her hands to her face and felt her mask upon her face. She quickly looked herself over and found that she was in her thief outfit. Queen sighed deeply before she turned to see the others looking themselves over as well.

"So... he sees us as threats?" Panther asked solemnly.

"B-but..." Oracle stammered, staring at her clothes. Queen looked at her and her eyes widened when she saw that Oracle wasn't in her thief outfit, but still in her casusual outfit. "S-so... I'm _not_ a threat?"

"It seems that way. It is only reasonable that you wouldn't be one," Noir began, "you and Akira-kun are quite close, correct? I have heard once or twice about one of you mentioning that the other is like a sibling. So it seems only reasonable that you wouldn't be a threat."

"But that still leaves us as threats..." Panther whispered under her breath. Skull scratched the back of his head as he grumbled.

"None of that matters now. What does matter is getting that treasure and changing Akira's heart!" Skull announced triumphantly, "So we gonna go get that treasure or what?"

Everyone straightened and smiled with pride as they all began to walk to the palace.

* * *

Akira was in the room with a book. He didn't pay much attention to the title (Love, Simon) but did pay attention to the lovely story. He smiled each time he would read about what the awkward teenager in the story did. He felt his eyelashes grow heavy before he looked up at the clock.

11:56

 _I should go to bed._ Akira thought as he slowly set the book on the end table that Aunt Saki placed next to the bed. His eyelids closed and opened suddenly. He wasn't this tired. And he certainly never experienced this much exhaustion before and he knows damn well no one has. Well not when you just realize it's getting late.

He felt his body go limp as he tried to sit up and his wrist burned causing him to wince. His eyelids suddenly closed and he tried to open them, but they wouldn't open. And he began to lose consciousness.

* * *

Aria felt an odd wave of worry and fear. She stopped dead in her tracks. She was outside of the apartment and she felt like she needed to go back to Leblanc or maybe the hospital. Her eyebrows furrowed as she gripped the doorknob tight enough to maybe dent it. She needs to go back. 

Aria whipped around and began running towards the station to take her to the hospital Akira was staying at. She quickly pulled out her phone to call Saki.

"Come on, come on, come on! Pick up!" she pleaded. 

_“This number is currently-”_

"Dammit!" she cursed. "Please be safe, please be safe...!"

* * *

The group wasn't much farther from the large building when they heard screams echo around them. "The hell was that...?!" Skull mumbled.

Oracle held the side of her head as they stopped in shock. "Aria...?" 

"Hm? Did you say something, Oracle?" Queen asked. Oracle snapped out of her daze and shook her head.

"N-no..." she said, shaking her head. "Nothing."

 Queen stared at her and then looked back to where she was walking. "I think we should worry about that later. We should keep moving,"

"Yeah... Just, those screams felt so real... and painful..." Panther muttered. Oracle rubbed her arm in discomfort. 

"I know. But we'll have to ignore them until we get to that building." Queen said. The group was soon moving and Oracle lagged behind.

That was Aria screaming. She knows it! It felt like she was crying too, like she was crying and screaming at the same time. A sudden pain shot through the female's head and she was soon on the ground. 

 _"NO! SHE CAN'T BE DEAD! SHE CAN'T BE DEAD!!"_ Oracle heard Aria scream and heard other voices trying to calm her. 

"I didn't mean to hurt her..." a familiar voice said behind her. Oracle whipped around and saw Akira. No, his Shadow. He was wearing a tattered black t-shirt and a gray hoodie along with blue jeans which had bloodstains on it. Same as the side of his head. Everything just had blood on it! 

"W-what happened to you...?" Oracle whispered. Shadow Akira approached the shaking girl and stopped.

"It was my fault." 

"What was your fault...?" 

Shadow Akira looked at his feet and blood slid down his cheek. "I hurt her... I hurt her so many times..."

"H-hurt who, Akira?" Oracle slowly stood and Shadow Akira looked at her with a look of remorse. 

"I'll show you."

Oracle furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and the shadow gave an apologetic look before disappearing into black whisps. She looked to where her teammates were and they were still walking. Oracle suddenly felt something tie around her ankle and she didn't have any time before she was being pulled. 

"No! Help me! Guys! Help me!" Oracle screamed as she was pulled away into void. Literally.

* * *

Yusuke was still on the train and his anxiety began to pick up suddenly. He felt like something terrible happened without his acknowledgement. He pulled out his phone and called the hospital.

The phone rang for a while until it was picked up by the receptionist.

_"Hello, this is Tokyo Takanaka Hospital how may I help you?"_

"Hello, my name is Yusuke Kitagawa and I need to speak with Saki-san. It's urgent."

 _"Alright, please hold,"_ the man on the phone at least sounded like he knew the name. But Yusuke was grateful for anything. He didn't really know why his instincts told him to call the hospital, but they did. He also felt like he should check on his friends, but they were in the metaverse already so there was no point in calling.

_"Yusuke-kun?"_

Yusuke jumped slightly at the sudden voice. "Saki-san?"

_"Yes, is there something the matter?"_

"Check on Akira. Please, I know this sounds very absurd, but please do it and make sure you check on him thoroughly...!"

 _"Um, okay...? I'll check on hi- hold on, Yusuke-kun- what? I was- wait, Aria-chan! Ugh, okay, I'm going to check on him. Goodbye...!"_ Yusuke heard a beep and stared at his screen in confusion. 

"Aria?" Yusuke hummed and put his phone in his pocket. "I wonder what was going on..."

* * *

"Aria-chan! Wait!" 

Aria dashed down the hall and burst into Akira's room without paying attention to her aunt's yells. She saw her brother laying on his bed with a dead expression on his face as he looked like he was sleeping. More waves of anxiety and fear washed over the ravenette as she approached him and began to shake him.

"Akira! Wake up! Wake up!" Aria begged and begged until hands grabbed her shoulders, pulling her from the bed. She struggled against the person and in the corners of her eye, she saw few other doctors as she shook Akira more violently. " _Please_! Wake up!"

"Miss, I'm gonna need you to leave-"

"Wake him up! He needs to wake up!" Aria felt arms yank her back and saw her aunt standing there with a confused and empathetic look on her face. "Aunt Saki! Please, wake him up! Let me go!"

Saki took a step forward and looked past Aria. "Let my niece go. I'll handle this. You three aren't needed here, I'll take care of my two kids...!" 

Aria felt the arms release her and then three of the other doctors left the room reluctantly. Saki watched and then she closed the door before she turned to look at her niece. 

"I know this is going to sound crazy, but please listen," Aria begged. "I need to wake him up...! He can't be unconscious right now!"

Saki looked at Akira and she mumbled. "Huh?"

"He said the same thing..." Aria raised an eyebrow.

"Who said the same thing?"

"Yusuke-kun. He said that I needed to check on Akira-kun and that I needed to thoroughly check on him... It's just odd..."

Aria stared wide-eyed. "Saki, can you please help me wake him up? I can't lose him!" 

Saki gave a look of confusion at Aria's choice of words and then she nodded. "Alright, try doing something physically while I try to find something, all right?"

Aria released a breath and nodded before she immediately dashed to Akira's side. She shook him and called to him every now and then, but her mind kept wandering back to Kitagawa-kun.

_Does he have it too?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! I hope you all enjoyed! I wish you all a great day!
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> P.S Let me know about any grammar mistakes!
> 
> P.P.S what'd you guys think of Akira reading Love, Simon? ;))


	12. He's No Longer Here...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Oracle?!" Queen and the rest of the team looked around them as they heard more pleas from their teammate. "What the hell is he doing to her...?!"

After a nerve racking ten minutes, Yusuke was finally off the train and was already running to Leblanc to activate the MetaNav. His anxiety was like a heart monitor; it'd go up high, then the next moment it's down low like he had no care whatsoever. He had this feeling in the pit of his stomach that something terrible happened and he wasn't able to shake it off. 

He was soon near the alley where Leblanc was and dashed to the small café. He opened the door and zoomed up the stairs since Boss wasn't there. Well, not behind the counter necessarily. 

Yusuke imma pulled out his phone and opened up the MetaNav. "Akira Kurusu, Kobe, Hell...!"

_"Candidate Found. Beginning Navigation,"_

* * *

Oracle's eyes shot open and began gagging on a breathing tube. There was a beeping sound. It sounded like the heart monitor. Was it a heart monitor? What was with the breathing tube... and this breathing mask?!

Oracle looked all around her. She was in a hospital room. Why was she a hospital room? Her body ached. She tried to move her arm, but, when she moved even a little bit, a large and agonizing pain would rush through her body. She groaned and mentally screamed in pain. The tube shifted as she groaned; causing her to choke. She gagged and coughed. It hurt to even jolt!

 _“What the hell is going on...?”_ Oracle gave one final gag and the tube was still in her throat. Wait a minute. In her throat?! Was a fucking tube in her throat?! 

She tried to turn her neck, but then realized something was also wrapped around it. Was that a neck brace?!

A rapid beeping was heard. It must've been the heart monitor. Oracle looked around her and tried to remember what she was doing before she came here. 

 _“Ugh... The last thing I can remember was...”_ Oracle mentally shook her head,  _“...I think the last thing I can remember... was... talking to Aria in Leblanc... But, about what?”_

What was she talking about? When did she go to a hospital? Her head began to throb. 

_“Mn...!”_

Oracle looked around her. The walls were pure white and the room was spacious—despite her feeling claustrophobic for some odd reason—and there was a large window next to the door. 

Oracle heard muffled voices coming from outside. She looked towards the window and saw the back of a doctor. The doctor suddenly turned around and Oracles eyes widened.

The eyes were completely  _black._ Like in those horror movies when someone gets possessed. There was red whisps dancing around them as well, adding more to the suspense.

The heart monitor beeped faster and Oracle's eyes began to well up with tears out of both fear and pain. The door suddenly opened, causing the heart monitor to go faster. It showed a girl with unkempt raven hair that was in a messy side braid in blue jeans and a black cardigan.

She looked familiar. Kinda like... Aria.

* * *

"We're almost there. What are our readings on shadows, Oracle?" Queen asked as her pace slowed. The brunette looked behind her and saw her teammates looking around them frantically. All except one.

"Oracle? Oracle!" 

"Where the hell is she?!"

"Was no one watching her?!"

"Well how the hell were we supposed to know that she was going to disappear!"

"Everyone, stop it...!"

Queen, who was hyperventilating, kept looking around the area to find any sign of her teammate. She stepped close to the edges of the bridge they were walking on while the others were arguing. The dark atmosphere made her eyes hurt as she stared at the horizon in hope of finding her friend. Nothing. 

"...well where the hell would she have gone off too, Noir?!"

"Don't talk to her that way!"

Queen gritted her teeth and turned around to approach the arguing group.

"...cle could've been taken for all we know!"

"Well who the eff would it be-"

"ENOUGH!" everyone stopped immediately and looked at the brunette in shock. "I do not care who said what, but I do care that Futaba is missing and she could be anywhere in the palace and for all we know Akira could've been behind it!"

Queen was breathing heavily and her eyes were closed. "I apologize for my shouting, but we need to find Futaba. It scares me as much as it scares you guys, but we need to stop fighting and try to figure out where the hell Futaba is...! Understand...?!"

"Y-yes, Queen..." they all said in sync. Skull rubbed the back of his neck. "You really think Akira could've taken her?"

"...yes. I believe that's a possibility-"

 _"Wow, when did I become the criminal?"_ Everyone nearly jumped out of their skin once the voice echoed through their mind.  _"And besides, it was her who wanted to know what happened. So, like a decent person would, I had him take her,"_

"Had who, Akira? Who took her?" Panther asked, gripping her whip in anger.

A sinister chuckle came.  _"Have fun finding her."_

"Dammit, just tell us already you bastard!" Skull huffed. He gritted his teeth. "That effing-"

**_"STOP! MAKE THEM STOP! PLEASE!"_ **

"Oracle?!" Queen and the rest of the team looked around them as they heard more pleas from their teammate. "What the hell is he doing to her...?!"

* * *

Fox was standing at the gate with wide eyes. He knew what he was coming in to, but... He  _definitely_ was not expecting this!

"Akira...." Fox sighed, "...why didn't you-"

"Yusuke~" a sinister chuckle came and Fox whipped around immediately, "My, my, my, why so alarmed?"

A shadow was behind him—Akira's shadow. He looked exactly like Joker, except for the golden eyes that pierced Fox's soul.

"Akira..." Fox gasped. His heart ached. He shook his head slightly. "Why are you here?" 

A snicker came from the shadow. He grabbed his mask with his gloves hand and pulled it off, revealing his golden eyes. Fox took a step back cautiously as the shadow took a step forward. 

"Why am I here? Well, I think the answer's easy, don't you think?"

He stepped closer.

Fox took another step back. The bluenette warily grabbed his katana as the shadowy whisps around the shadow grew. 

"I-..." Fox took another step back when the shadow stepped forward, and his back hit the gate. Shit. "I-..."

The shadow towered over the petrified persona user. Hands gripped Fox's shoulders, causing a small gasp as he jolted. Their faces were only inches apart. Fox's heart was hammering against his chest. 

A smirk formed on Akira's lips. "To think you of all people would become so tense to my touch..." His gloves hands slowly trailed down Fox's arms, making his heart beat faster.

_Thisiswrongthisiswrongthisiswrongthisiswrong!_

The bluenette's eyes screwed shut and his breathing was abnormal. A million alarm bells rang in his head as Akira's shadow began to take hold of Fox's neck and chin. A hand grabbed his chin and jerked it upward; forcing the terrified eyes to snap open.

He couldn't move. Why couldn't he _move_?!

His grip on his katana began to falter and his heart felt like it was about to burst. The Shadow was now only an inch away from impact with Fox's colorless, petrified face.

Its golden eyes pierced the boy's soul as its other hand began to take a firm hold on Fox's neck. A snicker came from the Shadow and Fox tried to reclaim his grip on his weapon.

"Changing his heart won't do a thing," the gloves hand tightened, "all it will do is release the demons. It won't erase the painful memories or the unbearable truth about your  ** _perfect leader..._** "

Whisps peeked out in the corners of the petrified teenager's eyes as the shadow gripped tight enough to potentially lift him form the ground. Which he did. Fox's legs dangled helplessly and his throat felt like it was being sealed completely. The Shadow's golden eyes began to turn into a ruby red as the hand tightened around the boy's throat.

A choked sound escaped from Fox and he finally was able to take hold of the Shadow's hand.

"Please.... Akira-"

A demonic laugh erupted from the shadow. **_"Akira's not here anymore!"_**

He released the boy. Fox gasped for air as he landed onto the cold hard ground. His body was now again able to move freely and the shadow was out of his blurry sight as the sick atmosphere thickened. He coughed harshly and searched around the palace's entrance.

The shadow had completely disappeared. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

**I'M BACK!!! OMG, IT'S BEEN 84 YEARS! AND AO3 GAVE ME A GIFT! THE NOTES GLITCHING OUT! WTF**

**Anyways, so, hallelujah, I thought I'd never get a chapter out! Though it is very short and sloppy af. So, since the notes are glitching out, the notes will be in the stories like on wattpad until I figure out what's going on. Also, these chapters are going to be the same size as this one due to school (so maybe like 750 to 1,000 words), but I hope you enjoyed this small trashy comeback chapter nonetheless! I wish you all a great day! <3 **

 


	13. Not Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She was never going to get out of this.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> GOOD LORD THIS WAS A BITCH TO WRITE!
> 
> omg, ok, so I had no ounce of inspiration whatsoever, it is currently midnight where I am and it is dark AF and for some reason I was able to write whatever this is. Whatever, take it. Its It's out there. Enjoy, happy holidays.

He was falling. 

He was falling down.

Down a hole, he believes.

But...how did he get there?

His mind is fuzzy and he can't see anything. He can't see anything but darkness.

He can't even see his own hands. It was as if he was blindfolded. Was he even opening his eyes? 

He can't hear anything, but the ringing in his ears. He's scared, but why?

Suddenly, he hears distorted whispers and the ringing stops. He tries to open his eyes, look around or move. But he can't. It felt like he was tied up in rope or paralyzed even.

More whispers came, but this time they were more clear.

_"...Yu..i...m....orry...."_

_"Al...m....au...t...."_

_"Yu..su..e....ove...ou...."_

_"Sa....me...."_

His heart starts to beat rapidly. He can feel his head start to pound and the rope around him tighten. His need for oxygen increasing by the second.

 

 

 

 

....he needs _Yusuke_.

* * *

Oracle stared at the raven in front of her. Was this Aria? It had to be. It looked exactly like her! Except, once she sat next to Oracle, her eyes turned gold and she had this weird aura surrounding her. An aura only Akira had. She wasn't Akira.

Suddenly this imposter of Aria started to cry. But they weren't tears. They were _blood_.

Oracle felt her heart teleport from her stomach to her throat as this shadow stared at her. The fifteen year old felt tears escape her wide eyes as she tried to move away. She was absolutely  _terrified._ The tube in her dry throat did not help at all. She didn't even know why she was there in the first place! 

Oracle stared at the bleeding shadow and watched it tilt its head to the side in a creepy manner. She hated this. She regrets not staying close to the group. If only she wasn't so stupid!

"That's what he tells himself," Oracle turned her head and saw Akira's shadow sitting on a leather chair in the corner. He was staring at his nails like those cliche highschool girls on movies. He was wearing a black suit with a black tie. "He tells himself that every single day..."

Oracle felt something grab her hand and saw the shadow of Aria staring at her with piercing eyes. Oracle thought her heart was going to jump out of her chest in fear. Nails dug into the young teen's skin, causing a yelp of pain to erupt. Oracle could almost feel the shadow's nails digging into her bone.

A snicker came from Akira's shadow, "Aria always had a habit of digging her nails into whatever when she was scared," the shadow stood up from the leather seat and walked around the room, making Oracle feel uneasy, "Though, she never did anything like this,"

Oracle winced in pain as Aria's nails dug further in. She was never going to get out of this.

Not alone at least.


End file.
